new automation technologies promise central countries the power to onshore governance process from around the world, unleashing the risk that their adoption in the context of financial instability and debt become a path for the emergence of new empires ->
botpopuli.net/digital-gove...
Telegeography cable map: https://www.submarinecablemap.com/
IMPERIALISM 2.0: Not connected, tethered to the US
The US, whose companies have cables landing on every single coastal South American country just sanctioned Chilean government officials for agreeing to set up the first cable linking the region to China. www.state.gov/releases/off...
The US government re-conceptualized the internet as a tool for strategic coercion; one through which information could be..PUSHED onto targets:
Developing
ToR, Zunzuneo...and now freedom . gov
-> Tools in the hands of the Department of State
Paper-> journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Non-Aligned Tech Movement Newsletter #26:
Geopolitical centre of gravity is shifting towards China- The US - China trade are decoupling – Africa importing Chinese solar panels at scale -Launch of LatamGPT
+Call for abstracts
nonalignedtech.net/26-us-calls-...
Small steps towards the broader project of developing new narratives...and ways of narrating
monoskop.org/images/9/96/...
Why evoke the worn-out violence of saying: "kill two birds with one stone"
when you can
"feed two birds with one fruit"
And have someone's neurons dance for a second to provide an actual mental image of that...
Newsletter #25 of the Non-Aligned Tech Movement is out:
-New NAM chair
-Starlink Jammed in Iran?
-US cyberattacks on Venezuela?
-Falling trust in the US
-Eurostack anxieties
-Africa's Energy Grid
-Mercosur-EU trade deal...and more👇
nonalignedtech.net/25-new-nam-c...
Beautiful reflection by @lumusello.bsky.social regarding a reading group on Dependency Theory we are hosting at the Non-Aligned Tech Movement
4sonline.org/news_manager...
Newsletter #24 is out!
Emerging Silicon Trade Blocs, Robot industry in China, and Open Source defenses?
nonalignedtech.net/24-emerging-...
The Amazon Web Services outage shows how a handful of corporate players control sensitive information chokepoints.
These chokepoints can be leveraged to advance commercial or political agendas.
Here are 6 strategies Governments are using to neutralize them:
policyreview.info/articles/ana...
What are epistemic rights?
My latest explores how this concept can enhance our ability to define, expose, and confront threats to press freedom and democracy.
www.openglobalrights.org/epistemic-ri...
Newsletter #22 of the Non-Aligned Tech Movement is out:
Geopolitical shake-ups in the lower layers of the stack: Semiconductors, Chips, Minerals 🌋 nonalignedtech.net/22-geopoliti... #NAM -> #NATM
Digital technologies impact what is visible and concrete (documents, borders, walls, institutions), while simultaneously unleashing an invisible layer that radically modifies existing relationships between people, states, and infrastructures
A series👇 www.openglobalrights.org/up-close/tec...
Screenshot of the editorial text: "The digitization of identities is reshaping how states see and interact with the public. Grace Mutung’u highlights how programs in Kenya and Uganda exclude vulnerable communities from essential services. For example, incorrect birth dates are denying elders pensions, and thousands are being stripped of citizenship, all under the guise of increasing efficiency. “Smart” borders: Despite the promises of a borderless digital world, the border walls are growing taller—and smarter. Petra Molnar reveals how “smart borders” have become systems of surveillance, exclusion, and violence. From drones patrolling the Mediterranean to AI lie detectors at checkpoints, “smart” border tech is turning humans into “problems to be solved.” Moreover, the right to asylum is being eroded at a moment in which the collapse of ecosystems and wars make the movement of humans inevitable. E-carceration apps: Carceral technologies, often marketed as humane alternatives to incarceration, are extending psychological torture beyond prison walls while stripping individuals of autonomy and dignity. Nedah Nemati and Dasha Pruss explain how ankle monitors and facial recognition systems transform everyday life into a state of constant surveillance and control. Incessant device alerts induce sleep deprivation, and bulky monitors lead to medieval-style public humiliation."https://www.openglobalrights.org/will-human-rights-guide-technological-development/
Will human rights guide technological development?
Here's a 5-part series featuring experts from around the world I curated for #OpenGlobalRights:
(Link in comment)
We need an infrastructural revolution for supporting digital rights ↓ www.openglobalrights.org/networks-ove...
Newsletter #21 of the Non-Aligned Tech Movement is out: AI Action Plans, corporate Chin-exit🪂…and non-aligned dreams?
nonalignedtech.net/21-ai-action...
Newsletter #20 of the Non-Aligned Tech Movement is out!
–> Sovereign Tech Shifts 🔀 | South Korea’s AI Play, US-China Chip Tax, & Iran’s GPS Exit?
-> nonalignedtech.net/20-sovereign...
-
#NATM #GPS #BeiDou #WhatsApp #China #USA #EU #NonAlignedMovement
NEW: Is NVidia baking kill-switches into AI chips? China thinks so...
"China’s cyber regulator...said US AI experts had “revealed that Nvidia’s computing chips have location tracking and can remotely shut down the technology”.
www.ft.com/content/e490...
If the Snowden revelations sparked concern that the US was leveraging global networks to pull data in for espionage, the current fear is that its control over the networks and today’s digital platforms means it can cut off its supposed adversaries altogether, writes Juan Ortiz Freuler.
![🇩🇰🔓🇪🇺 [NEWS: Denmark embraces open source to avoid US companies]
“Denmark wants to replace Windows and Office with Linux and LibreOffice
The ministry aims to gain greater control over software updates, data storage, and security while avoiding vendor lock-in. This effort is not solely about cutting costs, although reduced licensing fees are expected to yield financial benefits.”
https://www.techradar.com/pro/denmark-wants-to-replace-windows-and-office-with-linux-and-libreoffice-as-it-seeks-to-embrace-digital-sovereignty](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vtogbq5vwcnnubqlbqz2jrpy/bafkreibgvejjirietaxv6kzms33bl56zdiflxkgr4tm6heao7ra6w4pbc4)
🇩🇰🔓🇪🇺 [NEWS: Denmark embraces open source to avoid US companies] “Denmark wants to replace Windows and Office with Linux and LibreOffice The ministry aims to gain greater control over software updates, data storage, and security while avoiding vendor lock-in. This effort is not solely about cutting costs, although reduced licensing fees are expected to yield financial benefits.” https://www.techradar.com/pro/denmark-wants-to-replace-windows-and-office-with-linux-and-libreoffice-as-it-seeks-to-embrace-digital-sovereignty
Meanwhile, in Denmark....
be like Denmark....
Tomorrow at 11 AM, I’ll be presenting my research on how lessons from disarmament processes can help us dismantle propaganda systems and safeguard the internet as a shared space for knowledge. #IPSA2025 – Room 4F 402
🚨 Unilateral US sanctions weaponize tech...and the world is pushing back:
• ICC locked out of email after US sanctions
• UN Rapporteur sanctioned
• Denmark dumps Windows for open-source
...& more...
👇 Full analysis in #NATM Newsletter #19
nonalignedtech.net/19-as-us-hit...
sketch of centralized networks with a point of control and different interventions aimed at solving them. Ref: https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/infrastructural-power-state-strategies
Globalization & interdependence are increasingly being weaponized to advance narrow geopolitical agendas. From #Hormuz to #Panama; #Starlink to #AppStore
As existing institutions & norms shake, policymakers scramble to:
Identify chokepoints
+Define what
CAN be done
SHOULD be done
#IGF2025
Heading off to #IGF2025 !
Drop a line if you're planning to attend!
Sketch of a flower blooming in between a red and a blue block
NATM Newsletter #18:
🪖 The military turn among US tech corps
🏗️ Harnessing infrastructural power
🇨🇳🇺🇸 China more popular than the US in most countries polled
...and more-> nonalignedtech.net/18-the-milit...
Happening tomorrow (Saturday) 10:30–11:45am @ Mt. Princeton
(Grand 3 - #ICA25 / #ICA2025 ) #MediaInfrastructures
Tomorrow, at a pre-ICA conference, I’ll be presenting ongoing work tracing how Dependency theory is likely going to shape the ways in which South America approaches a Non-Aligned Tech response to geopolitical pressures and the weaponization of the internet
Heading to Denver for #ICA2025 ! On Saturday I will be dissecting how Latin American online newspapers depend on third-party infrastructure and the commercial and geopolitical risks this represents. Manuscript available on my website.
Figure 1 of the paper, showing networks and their chokepoints (like cobwebs with a central location) and strategies governments deploy to deal with the central point
Poster version of the paper
Heading to #GIGARTS2025!
I'll be presenting on #InternetGovernance & #DigitalSovereignty
1)State Strategies to deal w/ Points of Control: policyreview.info/articles/ana...
2)Threats to Informational Sovereignty: Latin American Newspapers papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Full agenda at gig-arts.eu
[New paper] Infrastructural power: State strategies for internet control, By @juanof9.bsky.social
policyreview.info/articles/ana... #undersea #telecom
