Digital colonialism: How tech companies and superpowers are dividing up the world - book launch and discussion

How is the power of large technology companies changing the lives of billions of people - and who is paying the price?

Workers extract the raw materials for smartphones in mines under difficult conditions, while so-called click workers filter problematic content from social networks for low wages or prepare data for artificial intelligence applications.

In her new book "Digital Colonialism. Wie Tech-Konzerne und Großmächte die Welt unter sich aufteilen", communication scientist and tech journalist Ingo Dachwitz and lawyer and digitalization expert Sven Hilbig focus on people who usually remain invisible in the everyday life of digitalization. Their aim is to show how closely everyday digital life in affluent countries is linked to the realities of life in the Global South. Dachwitz will present the book at the FRIAS Freiburg Horizons.

Ingo Dachwitz is a journalist and communication scientist. He has been editor of the online magazine netzpolitik.org since 2016. Dachwitz writes about topics at the intersection of digital society, power and democracy. In 2024, he was awarded the Alternative Media Prize and the Grimme Online Award. In fall 2025, his new book was nominated for the German Non-Fiction Prize.

Admission is free.