To start, we must recall what made historical colonialism distinctive. Colonialism was a form of economic and social organization dominated by major colonial powers such as Britain, France, Spain, and later the United States. It is now usually regarded as historically closed, ended by the decolonizing movements of the later twentieth century, although in politics and other areas, neocolonial forms of power live on (a more detailed discussion of historical colonialism can be found in the interlude following chapter 2). Our interest in this book is in the continuities from that older colonialism to a new form of colonialism—data colonialism.

Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, loc. 63