Race,ethnicity,and technology-facilitated violence: The experience of activists in Chocó,Colombia

Abstract

Racism extends into the digital realm, manifesting in various forms of technology-facilitated violence (TFV). Although much research centers on the Global North, it is essential to investigate this issue in other settings, such as Colombia, where activists are particularly vulnerable to TFV. This study enriches the debate with a qualitative approach, conducting 18 interviews with activists from Chocó and Bogotá. The literature on race and TFV reveals that technology can exacerbate racism through social media, like anonymity, and introduce new forms of racist violence, including deepfakes and algorithmic bias. However, these forms were not prevalent in our interviews. For activists, structural racism, especially limited Internet, and electricity access emerged as a primary factor in their experiences with racist TFV. Overt TFV escalates to offline threats, silencing dissenting voices. This research emphasizes the need to understand TFV within non-Western regions, advocating for nuanced approaches to addressing digital racism in diverse contexts.