Black Holes in the Global Digital Landscape:: The Fuelling of Human Trafficking on the African Continent

Today’s digital architecture is based on the information networks of colonial times, which carried information and goods – including slaves – to knowledge centres in the West. Hence, structures like the Internet reflect biases in social and political connectivity. Those living in ‘black holes’ in the digital architecture are ‘mined’ for information, without enjoying any of the benefits of information flows. Hence, it is clear that digital technology is not impact-neutral. In fact, it seems to be fuelling trafficking in human beings, particularly trafficking for ransom on the African continent.