Talent | Philosophy Hangout

[@nadnodnadia]

Hey Neal, interesting chat last night! I had another idea for your topics list: data colonialism / the "new Jim Code"

[@theblackponderer]

@@nadnodnadia hello. I'm not familiar with either of those concepts. Can you provide a brief summary of them?

[@nadnodnadia]

@@theblackponderer In Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code by Ruha Benjamin, the "New Jim Code" refers to the ways in which technology perpetuates racial inequalities while appearing neutral. Drawing on the historical context of the Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation, Benjamin explains how modern technologies, particularly algorithms and AI, can encode racial bias into their systems. Technologies, especially those used in policing, hiring, and healthcare, can reproduce or even exacerbate racial discrimination through biased datasets. This happens even if the technology is designed to be objective. These technological systems are often opaque users cannot see how decisions are being made and this lack of transparency reinforces power imbalances. Benjamin calls for an abolitionist approach, where instead of merely reforming these technologies, society should challenge and rethink the structures that allow such systems to perpetuate inequality. Similar to how activists have called for the abolition of the prison-industrial complex, the abolitionist approach to technology suggests dismantling these biased systems to create new technologies that actively promote justice and equality. In Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How To Fight Back, the concept of data colonialism explores how big tech companies (like Google, Facebook, Amazon) exploit personal data from users in ways that mirror historical colonial practices. Just as colonialism involved the extraction of resources from colonized lands, data colonialism refers to the extraction of personal data by tech companies. This data becomes a key resource for profit in the digital economy. Big tech companies use this data to shape political and consumer behaviour and also use it for broader surveillance, gaining unprecedented power over individuals and societies. Much like in colonialism, the people whose data is being collected are often unaware of the true extent of the exploitation, with tech companies profiting enormously from their personal information. Data colonialism extends globally, as tech companies exploit users’ data from around the world, particularly in the Global South, creating new forms of dependency and inequality.

[@nadnodnadia]

@@theblackponderer In Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code the "New Jim Code" refers to the ways in which technology can perpetuate racial inequalities while appearing neutral. The book explains how modern technologies, particularly algorithms and AI, can encode racial bias into their systems. Especially tech used in policing, hiring, and healthcare, can reproduce and exacerbate racial discrimination through biased datasets. This happens even if the technology is designed to be objective. These technological systems are often opaque users cannot see how decisions are being made and this lack of transparency reinforces power imbalances. The book calls for an abolitionist approach, where instead of merely reforming these technologies, society should challenge and rethink the structures that allow such systems to perpetuate inequality. Similar to how activists have called for the abolition of the prison-industrial complex, the abolitionist approach to technology suggests dismantling these biased systems to create new technologies that actively promote justice and equality. In Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech, the concept of data colonialism explores how big tech companies exploit personal data from users in ways that mirror historical colonial practices. Just as colonialism involved the extraction of resources from colonized lands, data colonialism refers to the extraction of personal data by tech companies. This data becomes a key resource for profit in the digital economy. Big tech companies use this data to shape political and consumer behaviour and also use it for broader surveillance, gaining unprecedented power over individuals and societies. The people whose data is being collected are often unaware of the true extent of the exploitation with tech companies profiting enormously from their personal information. Data colonialism extends globally, as tech companies exploit users’ data from around the world, particularly in the Global South, creating new forms of dependency and inequality.

[@nadnodnadia]

Weird I keep trying to write a reply to this but after it posts, I come back and my comment is gone…

[@theblackponderer]

@@nadnodnadia yeah, KZbin be trippin' like that sometimes