TECHNOFEUDALISM AND THE CHALLENGES OF DATA GOVERNANCE: LIMITS TO REDUCING INEQUALITIES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH IN LIGHT OF SDG 10 OF THE 2030 AGENDA

Abstract

This study analyzes technofeudalism as a contemporary configuration of power characterized by the concentration of data, digital platforms, and algorithmic systems within major technology corporations, which reproduces new forms of dependency and inequality between the Global North and the Global South. It investigates how current data governance compromises the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 10 (SDG 10) of the 2030 Agenda, particularly regarding the reduction of inequalities, social inclusion, equality of opportunity, and the participation of developing countries in global decision-making processes. Adopting a qualitative, critical-descriptive approach, this research is based on a literature review, documentary research, and critical interpretive analysis. It is argued that power, previously associated with land ownership, has shifted toward the control of digital infrastructures, data, and algorithms, transforming users into sources of value extraction and Global South countries into data providers, consumer markets, and immaterial labor. Furthermore, the findings reveal that algorithmic opacity can reproduce discrimination, modulate behavior, and compromise fundamental rights such as privacy, freedom of expression, and informational autonomy. The study concludes that achieving SDG 10 requires strengthening digital sovereignty as well as establishing transnational mechanisms for democratic governance and informational justice. In this scenario, legal frameworks must transcend national regulation and actively critique the structural dynamics of data colonialism, technological dependency, and digital exclusion.