An important reason for undertaking all of this urgently is that data colonialism is a period of transition. It is not here to stay; its patterns simply announce an emerging order that is yet to come. As discussed in chapter 1, historical colonialism served as a prelude to modern industrial capitalism. The eighteenth-century abolition of colonial slavery solidified the British empire's transition in the nineteenth century to a new form of imperialism based on liberal values such as free trade. This in turn allowed the empire to reimagine itself at the center of a global network of commerce in manufactured goods—the beginning of what we would recognize today as modern capitalism. In short, historical colonialism was not just about systematic and global extraction and appropriation but about reimagining those things as progress and enforcing a new world order in which colonizers could continue to rule with decreased (yet still prevalent) levels of violence but also with increased legitimacy. They would rule, in fact, by disavowing violence and declaring themselves the defenders of human values. In light of this history, we must reassess recent statements made by commentators following the Cambridge Analytica scandal expressing dissatisfaction with the corrupt data extraction system but assuring the public that it can be reformed and salvaged so that the march of progress may continue.

Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, loc. 354