Digital colonization as a threat to national security

Abstract

Today, digital transformation is one of the national goals of all developed and developing countries of the world. At the same time, mass digitalization also reveals negative consequences, which include the digital divide, the transformation of labor markets, the technocratization of the social and political spheres, etc., which largely stimulate the process of colonization coming from leading IT corporations and countries claiming the status of digital empires. In this vein, new tasks arise for states to ensure national security, due to the need to form sustainable digital sovereignty. This article is aimed at identifying the specifics, main problems and consequences of digital colonialization. The authors pay special attention to the US colonial policy in the context of understanding the phenomenon of digital empires; conceptual understanding of “digital sovereignty”; the risks of the digital age. The key research questions of the work are the following: What challenges does ultra-fast digitalization entail? How is the digital colonial policy formed and implemented? What are the main problems of digital colonialism? How to form and maintain sustainable digital state sovereignty? The significance of the presented study lies in the combination of theoretical approaches and real political practice, which makes it possible to characterize the whole variety of processes and effects of digital colonialization. In conclusion, the authors discuss the possibilities of import substitution in this area, and also offer practical recommendations for the implementation of the import substitution policy in modern Russia, emphasizing the need for a balanced development of the regulatory, legal, technological, competence, political, economic and managerial components of national digital sovereignty.