The Internet is white, male and English-speaking. Twitter user make a chatbot a racist, a google app mistakes Afro-Americans for gorillas and Facebook distributes Internet access with its “free basics” programme like the British Empire used to do with the railway. Social injustice and cultural hegemony live on in the once utopian web, global conditions and gender roles are continued. Digitalisation made worldwide communication more efficient but not necessarily freer. Networking does not seem to reduce disparities but, on the contrary, to reproduce them and to increase dependency in some cases. Given the biased algorithms and the mass collection and processing of data by services dominated by the West, the question arises if tech giants like Google and Facebook are the new colonial powers. But what resistance does this dominance face? How do we win back our sovereignty? And how can we break with old structures by using technology?
The radio host Katja Weber will debate the topic ‘digital colonialism’ with interesting and exciting guests. The guests will be announced shortly.
Lisa Gutermuth, programme manager at Ranking Digital Rights and guest researcher for internet policy & governance at the HIIG, will introduce the topic.
Wednesday, 27 September 2017 | 7 pm (
ical/
gcal)
The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG)
Französische Straße 9 | 10117 Berlin
Analogue | HIIG | Pretzels & Wine | Doors open at 6:30 pm
Digital | #DigSal | Livestream via www.hiig.de
Conserve | At www.hiig.de/en and YouTube
Every last Wednesday of the month, our guests debate 'Fragen zur vernetzten Gegenwart [Questions on the Networked Present Age]'. In our discussion serious we talk about phenomena on the Internet, discuss advantages and disadvantages and provide food for thought. Share your opinion before, during and after the event directly with us on our website, via social media or send us a postcard. The Digitale Salon is organised by Alexander von Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft and produced by Kooperative Berlin.
|
