ACTIVITY 5

By Marion Goetze & Michal Gerov

Disruptive technologies, demagogic governance: Data (un)democracy in India during COVID-19

In the article, Disruptive technologies, demagogic governance, India is viewed as a down-graded democracy due to some events that occurred during the pandemic. The country has been focussing on a deterministic use of technology and possibly violating human rights by doing so (EngageMedia, 2022).

For example, the government began using AI surveillance systems for policing and control. In Hyderabad, in which some of the largest multinational technology companies are located, the government has placed roughly 600,000 CCTV cameras around the city and is using AI based facial recognition technology (FRT) in conjunction with these cameras (2022). However, various policing agencies are misusing the software and incorrectly tagging people as criminals targeting specific neighbourhoods under the guise of identifying people who breach pandemic social rules (2022).

A second area of concern is that the government is collecting data using a biometric program called CoWIN (app) that was introduced to the public as the only way to vaccinate India’s population, however, access to this app excluded most of India’s rural population because only about 35 % have internet leaving many without the choice of informed consent (2022). Furthermore, instead of CoWIN functioning as a public and open resource, activists accused the company of ‘open-washing’ whereby a company “presents an initiative as open-source but does not meet all the criteria of openness” (para. 7, 2022).

A third area of concern is data governance; initially India wished to govern non-personal data, but the Personal Data Protection Bill introduced in 2018 and revised in 2019, stipulated that the government could access private data by claiming that it is for national security or for public order keeping (2022).

The media being presented in the article, CCTV cameras, FRT and CoWIN are being used to perpetuate the caste system in India, mine personal data from its citizens, surveil the populations of large cities, such as Hyderabad as well as misrepresent what the data collected is being used for. However, Clark (1993) may state that other types of media or media attributes may be able to do the same thing; mine information, watch, listen and police its people. By using television ads, newspapers, billboards or other media, the same message could be conveyed; that the cameras and the FRT are there to keep citizens safe. However, the government would not be able to surveil its people without these technologies to begin with.

Kozma (1994) would most likely contend that by using CCTV cameras, FRT and limiting access to apps, that India’s government is nefariously but cleverly using media to influence how its citizens give up their privacy under the guise of security and order. Kozma (1994) stated that perhaps we should ask “not do, but will media influence learning” (p. 7, 1994). If we fail to attempt to make a connection between media and learning theories, if we never understand how media can influence how we see things or how we come to learn things, then we are likely never to understand this relationship. Therefore, we may succumb to being manipulated by our own government. 

According to an interview with Jason Ā. Josephson Storm, Professor of Religion and Chair of Science and Technology Studies at Williams College (Gkiola, 2022), the humanities and social sciences have been mostly controlled by a system known as methodological individualism. This is the idea that any description of learning within the humanities or social sciences needed to be ascribed to the decisions or attitudes of an individual, not a group (2022). This makes it difficult to predict societal changes at the group, government or company level. Storm proposes the theory of Social Kinds which is that humans have the ability to create ‘things’ that have powers and capacities that we ourselves don’t have on our own (2022). We can create institutions, companies and organizations as well as artifacts. For example, the Supreme Court cannot be explained if you think that all of its attributes are just the attitudes of nine people. There is an institutional hierarchy that is necessary to understand that the Supreme Court goes beyond any individual; it encompasses objects including texts, organizations, laws, rules and so on (2022).

Having knowledge of the media debate can help us to critique and question the claims made by people in not only the educational technology industry but by our governments as well. When we understand how media and technology can be misused, then we are better equipped to understand and deal with any repercussions or at least, try to prevent them from happening to us.

Mpungose, C. B. (2021). Students’ Reflections on the Use of the Zoom Video Conferencing Technology for Online Learning at a South African University. International Journal of African Higher Education, 8(1), 159-178. https://doi.org/10.6017/ijahe.v8i1.13371

This article discusses how students at a South African university used Zoom for online learning during the pandemic and examined students’ opinions on how a South African university used Zoom VCT for e-learning (Mpungose, 2021). The authors argue that face-to-face instruction is the norm at South African universities. Even though learning management systems (LMS) were adopted at some universities, many were later compelled due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) to go entirely online and to use Video Conferencing Technologies (VCT) in addition to LMSs for e-learning (2021). However, most students dealt with issues connected to the digital divide (DD), which is the difference between those who can access the Internet versus those who cannot (2021). The spectrum of the digital divide in a university context is determined by socioeconomic circumstances, race, social class, gender, age, location, and educational background. 

Many students were unable to use Zoom because internet access posed a significant obstacle. Moreover, the recommendation that was proposed based on the finding by the authors for effective e-learning is as follows:

·         The essential technological tools should be made available to students, including but not limited to computers (laptops), smartphones, routers with adequate data bundles, recorded lectures on various storage media, and others.

·         Students should obtain the training required to improve their expertise and capabilities in both software resources. (Moodle LMS and the Zoom VCT).

·         Since connectivism encourages the social building of knowledge, it serves as a viable foundation for e-learning in the digital age. However, to overcome barriers and achieve effective e-learning, students must be inspired by their inner selves through self-identities.

·         To ensure fitness for purpose, the university should create an e-learning policy. Without a carefully thought-out approach, the digital divide and social divide issues will worsen, making kids more anxious, resistant, and frustrated (2021).

Clark (1993) would respond by arguing, there are many factors to e-learning.  Digital divide, wifi accessibility, student knowledge about the tool, and the marginalized group all affect these issues. Clark may also state that the students could have learned what they needed to without the hassle of e-learning. If given the information needed to successfully learn and pass a course, it does not matter what the media is (video, Zoom, Moodle) because what matters is how it is being taught. Media like Zoom and Moodle might be cost effective, but it is the method, according to Clark, of a “cognitive process or strategy that is necessary for learning” (p. 4, 1993).

Kozma (1994) might argue that if you have the proper training, and knowledge when it comes to e-learning, you will be able to prosper in an online environment. He maintains that media and our interactions with them are reciprocal and that these interactions might influence the cognitive processes by which we learn (1994).

References

Clark, R. E. (1994, June 1). Media will never influence learning. SpringerLink. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02299088?error=cookies_not_supported&code=005e20d3-189b-4987-a359-743efd3e460e

Disruptive technologies, demagogic governance: Data (un)democracy in India during COVID-19. (2022, August 12). Global Voices. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://globalvoices.org/2022/08/12/disruptive-technologies-demagogic-governance-data-undemocracy-in-india-during-covid-19/

Gkiola, E. (2022, June 26). Metamodernism — The Future of Theory: an interview with Prof. Jason Ā. Josephson Storm. Medium. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://medium.com/find-out-why/metamodernism-the-future-of-theory-an-interview-with-prof-jason-%C4%81-josephson-storm-9fab0291c095

Kozma, R. B. (1994, June 1). Will media influence learning? Reframing the debate. SpringerLink. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02299087?error=cookies_not_supported&code=66db4ba6-d224-4fe9-b810-c4a340a36b5c

Mpungose, C. B. (2021). Students’ Reflections on the Use of the Zoom Video Conferencing Technology for Online Learning at a South African University. International Journal of African Higher Education, 8(1), 159-178. https://doi.org/10.6017/ijahe.v8i1.13371