The result of this convenient failure is not just to renew colonialism but also to expand the scope of capitalism too, that is, the capitalism developed on the basis of historical colonialism. Through data colonialism, contemporary capitalism promises to consume its last remaining “outside,” dispossessing human subjects of their capacity as independent sites of thought and action. Resisting data colonialism becomes the only way to secure a human future not fused indissolubly with capitalism, indeed, the only way to sustain the value that capitalism claims to promote: human freedom.

Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, loc. 68