Digital Sovereignty, Material Atrocities: Social Media Corporations as State Criminal Actors

• In Event: Critical Perspectives on State-Corporate Power

Abstract

As a result of the Californian Ideology (also known as the Silicon Doctrine), or the widespread belief that social media corporations are inherently forces for positive social change, social media corporations have historically operated transnationally as digital sovereign states, largely developing and implementing independent governance strategies and internal regulations. The broad resurgence of right-wing extremism across the globe over the past ten years has led to an international reevaluation of the Californian Ideology as government leaders, policymakers, and average citizens interrogate the negative consequences of social media’s growing economic, cultural, and political power and influence. The failure of the Californian Ideology is further evidenced by the facilitation of atrocities such as genocide and human trafficking by social media corporations, particularly Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It is critical that criminologists turn their attention to the myriad harms caused by social media corporations, and technology corporations more broadly, rather than leaving this area of study to scholars of computer science, communication, and public policy.

Author

• Rachel E. Davis, Middle Tennessee State University