Global Development Or Digital Colonialism: A Need For An International Legal Framework For Data As A Resource
- IJLLR Journal
- Apr 17
- 1 min read
Daiwik Pratap Singh, O.P. Jindal Global University
ABSTRACT
Powerful nations and tech corporations in the Global North engage in data extraction from developing countries, undermining sovereign control over information and economic value. In many African and Asian states, weak or uneven data protection regimes enable a “Scramble for Data” whereby Big Tech extracts and monetizes user data for profit with nominal benefit to the source, echoing colonial patterns of resource plunder, arranging global digital infrastructure to serve their ends and undermine the self- determination of societies in the Global South. This unregulated flow of data from the periphery to tech hubs in the Global North erodes the ability of poorer states to govern their digital economies and protect their citizens’ privacy and autonomy. International law’s silence or active complicity in this arena reinforces digital colonialism with the absence of a binding international data regime, largely reflecting the interests of powerful actors and constraining the policy space of developing countries. The result is a form of modern economic and political control: digital colonialism functions as an extension of imperial power where foreign corporations control critical infrastructure, capture local markets, and even influence political discourse with the onset of Artificial intelligence.
