What is a digital territory, and why are the moral dimensions of territorialisation projects important?
A digital territory is a nationalised information infrastructure (techno-nationalism), nationalised both materially (state control of the physical infrastructure) and morally (ideas of who is a good or bad digital citizen). Its moral dimension matters because it justifies state intervention and normalises judgements about who counts and who may be punished.
Territorialisation projects are initiatives by states or groups of states to tie the borderless global internet back to physical borders, national territory and local law, in order to regain digital sovereignty and curb dominant (mostly US or Chinese) tech companies.
The "moral" side of a digital territory defines who is a digital citizen and what makes a good or bad one. "Bad" digital citizens, in the state's definition, are those who spread disinformation, share content critical of the state or engage in illegal activity.
These moral dimensions matter because they
- (a) justify state intervention and decide whether, when and how the state steps in, and
- (b) normalise moral judgements about who counts and who does not, who can be sanctioned or punished, and who may be ignored or forgotten.
That is why they lead to questions of justice and democracy: how much power does a state need to control outsiders' access to its apparatus or its critical infrastructure?
Go deeper:
Möllers (2021): Making Digital Territory, cybersecurity, techno-nationalism and the moral boundaries of the state — the source of the digital-territory concept.