Global South Must Resist Western Tech Giants’ ‘Information Order,’ Says Indian Official

On September 17, Meta* blocked the accounts of Russian media groups RT and Rossiya Segodnya across its platforms, once again raising concerns in Global South nations about the US-controlled Big Tech platforms agenda.

Western-controlled Big Tech giants seek to establish an “information order” aligned with their political interests, and that is problematic, said Kanchan Gupta, a Senior Advisor at India’s Information and Broadcasting Ministry speaking to Sputnik. He stressed that countries in the Global South must actively resist this agenda.

“I believe that information order has to be broad-based, participatory and accommodative of all shades of information, and not only that information which would be [to the] political advantage of the West. Let the people decide,” Gupta emphasized.

Over the past few years, a new trend has emerged that essentially weaponizes US tech giants to push the agenda of the Transatlantic Alliance, he said.

The pattern was observed during the early days of the Ukraine conflict, where Silicon Valley was weaponized to de-platform Russia and pro-Russian voices, the pundit highlighted.

The Indian official emphasized that the world cannot accept a so-called world order that excludes the Global South. Therefore, BRICS nations must take a proactive role in establishing a ‘new information order.’

Gupta suggested three important parameters in forging a global consensus for a new information order: transnational politics, technology, and geostrategy.

“We need Big Tech companies spread across the globe, which is not subject to the whims and fancies of any one government,” he maintained. “Because information shapes the global view. So, an information order that doesn’t include non-Western countries would be meaningless. It would be just another weapon in the armory of the West,” the advisor argued.

Moreover, Gupta expressed concern over the West’s increasing efforts to impose its narratives while marginalizing non-Western perspectives in global discourse. He argued that this practice would effectively violate the fundamental rights of individuals regarding the type of information they wish to consume.

He pointed to the similarities between the West’s efforts to craft an information order in the post-World War II era and the current geopolitical situation, wherein more developing nations were striving for multipolarity.

“At the end of World War II, it was the Anglo-American alliance which forged a Global Information Order mechanized to the extent that it lasted well after the end of the Cold War. At that time, Big Tech was usually associated with radio and television. This information order served as a weapon in the hands of the West. That situation doesn’t exist anymore. Today, the connotations of Big Tech have changed and come to encompass how we view Big Tech now,” he explained.