Digital Labour and “Technological Somnambulism”: The Case of Internet Content Moderation
Abstract
Langdon Winner uses the expression “technology somnambulism” referring to the fact of not taking into account the active and constitutive role technologies play in the shaping of forms of life (practices, actions, identities, etc.). Winner refers to this somnambulism in the sphere of the use of technical artefacts, but we can extend this notion to the sphere of the manufacture and operation of these artefacts and technologies, and thus speak of a “production somnambulism”. This somnambulism would be the oblivion of human labour, design, actions, decisions, and processes making possible the existence and functioning of technologies. In particular, we will deal with the somnambulism associated with the internet content moderation. We will look at what this type of digital labour consists of, its invisibility by design and the alienation it causes.
Keywords
Technology, Digital Labour, Content Moderation, Internet, PlatformsReferences
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