Fernando Alcoforado*
This article aims to demonstrate the urgent need for Brazil to gain independence in the field of digital technology. Recently, Starlink found itself involved in a legal controversy, after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of its users’ access to the X social network and the blocking of their accounts to ensure payment of fines related to the X social network, which is owned by Elon Musk. In response, Starlink initially stated that it would not comply with the order to restrict users’ access to the platform X, but it retracted this decision on September 3th. It is important to note that Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to 102 countries. It also aims to provide global mobile broadband. Starlink now covers the entire Brazilian territory, but is mostly used in remote regions where fiber optic internet and other means are not available, such as in the Amazon. Due to this feature, it can reach more remote areas, where there is even no cell phone signal.
It is important to note that Starlink dominates the satellite internet market in Brazil, holding 46% of the market and is the 16th provider of fixed broadband connection, with a 0.5% share. With a base of 224.4 thousand customers distributed across 4,761 municipalities, Starlink stands out especially in remote areas, such as the Amazon, where fiber optic infrastructure is scarce. This situation highlights Brazil’s dependence on Starlink’s digital technology. As the owner of Starlink, if Elon Musk wants to, he can prevent anyone from accessing the internet in the Amazon and in part of Brazilian territory, in addition to compromising the work of the Armed Forces. Another serious fact is that Starlink satellite images can help identify geological structures relevant to mining activities in Brazil, especially in the Amazon. This information is important for Musk to understand the geology of the region and identify areas with mineral potential that can be used in his business. The unfortunate fact is that Brazil is at the mercy of Starlink in Brazil. The Lula government should immediately break the contract with Starlink and seek other alternatives.
Evgery Morozov, a writer, researcher and intellectual from Belarus who studies the political and social implications of technology, in a lecture at the University of Brasília (UnB) addressing the theme Contestando o poder das Big Techs: soberania tecnológica e futuros digitais alternativos (Contesting the power of Big Techs: technological sovereignty and alternative digital futures), argued that countries like Brazil should seek their technological autonomy, developing their own digital techniques and infrastructures so as not to depend on foreign Big Techs [See the article Big techs aprofundam dependência econômica do Brasil, diz pesquisador (Big techs deepen Brazil’s economic dependence, says researcher), available on the website <https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/geral/noticia/2023-09/big-techs-aprofundam-dependencia-economica-do-brasil-diz-pesquisador>]. Researcher Morozov stated that the mere regulation of digital platforms, although important, is not enough. For him, a nation’s economic autonomy depends on technological autonomy, that is, on mastery over cutting-edge digital technologies. “Defending technological sovereignty is defending economic sovereignty, the first being a prerequisite for the second”.
Morozov argues that only the State can lead a transformation in the digital world capable of confronting the power of Big Techs. “Nations must invest in emerging sectors and promote new ventures that play essential roles in technology, from microprocessors to 5G, to Artificial Intelligence (AI)”. As this agenda would face strong opponents, according to researcher Morozov, only the State would be able to lead a technological development on a national basis. Morozov added that developing alternative digital infrastructures and AI would cost a lot of money, which could only be financed by the State. “We have to dedicate resources, public funds, to develop digital infrastructures with billions of dollars in investments. Companies like Google and Amazon invest between US$10 billion and US$15 billion per year in technology,” he concluded.
In line with Morozov’s proposal to overcome Brazil’s technological dependence, hundreds of Brazilian researchers and scientists linked to the technology sector proposed a “Programa de Emergência para a soberania digital” (Emergency Program for Digital Sovereignty) that was presented to President Lula before his inauguration. This program was presented in the article A dependência digital do Brasil (Brazil’s digital dependence), available on the website <https://flavialefevre.com.br/pt/a-dependencia-digital-do-brasil>. The proponents of this program report that “……. we open our markets to exploitation by the American oligarchies of digital services, such as social networks, search engines, streaming, educational services contracted on a precarious basis with Google and Microsoft, for example, with the arbitrary handover, without due supervision or transparency, on a scale never seen before, of the most valuable asset of our time: our personal data and our human experiences, collected via the Internet, datatized and exploited, often to the detriment of citizens/consumers and our democratic institutions. And this dependence has been gradually deepening for approximately three decades and eroding several aspects of our sovereignty”.
The proponents of this aforementioned program report that “it is true that the economic power of BigTechs has been a problem for several countries, including the United States, but this fact does not mean that we can conform and stop adopting initiatives to react to the problems that will still worsen, due to the inevitable growth of the Internet of Things, the increased use of Artificial Intelligence, which is based on massive data collection”. The authors of the “Programa de Emergência para a soberania digital” (Emergency Program for Digital Sovereignty) also emphasize that it is “obligatory to equally recognize as a process of expropriation of resources and reduction of the power to exercise Brazil’s sovereignty, the changes in the General Telecommunications Law, which occurred through the enactment of Law 13.879/2019, and the practice of the National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) with the objective of institutionalizing, in a legally questionable manner, the delivery of telecommunications networks and other assets reversible for transnational companies such as VIVO and Claro, implying the loss of assets estimated at R$121 billion; in addition to the value of these infrastructures for meeting public policies aimed at digital inclusion”.
The conclusion of the authors of the “Programa de Emergência para a soberania digital” (Emergency Program for Digital Sovereignty) is that “we are obliged to recognize that we are in a situation of strong dependence on companies that exploit applications for posting videos, search engines and educational products, such as Google, which, according to a survey by Educadigital, 75% of universities have so-called “free” contracts with the company, despite the fact that it is clear that the counterpart is the voluminous transfer of data affected by the public interest and fundamental rights, without the due guarantees of Brazil’s sovereignty over these assets of great economic value. This entire movement, guided by neoliberal principles, clashes with the foundations of the 1988 Federal Constitution, marked by the foundations of the Welfare State, as well as disrespecting the democratic guarantees achieved with the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, the General Law for the Protection of Personal Data, the Law on Access to Information, among others”.
According to the authors of the “Programa de Emergência para a soberania digital” (Emergency Program for Digital Sovereignty), “the concentration of technology offerings by transnational companies creates a relationship of dependence that reduces market diversity and limits the offerings produced in Brazil. Sensitive data of great economic value from various segments of our population cannot continue to be extracted from the country to feed the algorithmic systems of large digital platforms, which use them to sell us products and services under asymmetric and abusive conditions. At the root of the surveillance and data collection arrangements that guide the business model of large international technology platforms are processes of extracting knowledge and information, which accentuate and enhance relationships of labor exploitation and commercial contracts. Our universities, and many schools, have handed over their information structures, data, emails, storage of interactions and documents to foreign companies, which make a living from data processing. This scenario is a more immediate reflection of the disinvestment in infrastructure and human resources in the area of information technology, generating a scenario of growing dependence on foreign corporations in the sector. Thus, what is understood as cost reduction in the use of services masks dire consequences in the medium and long term. The knowledge and information produced by Brazilian scientists today run through the closed veins that irrigate the heart of Silicon Valley technology companies, putting scientific production and the country’s technological ecosystem at great risk”.
The “Programa de Emergência para a soberania digital”(Emergency Program for Digital Sovereignty) proposes: 1) Create a federated infrastructure for hosting data from Brazilian universities and research centers in accordance with our LGPD (General Personal Data Protection Law); 2) Create, in this federated infrastructure, frameworks for Artificial Intelligence solutions, whether for the public or private sector; 3) Encourage and finance the creation of data centers involving state governments, municipalities, public universities and non-governmental organizations, which allow for the storage of data in our territory and the application of AI solutions that stimulate and benefit local and regional collective intelligence; 4) Promote the establishment of multidisciplinary teams at MCTI to prospect technologies and experiments based on technodiversity principles and to promote advances in areas that are strategic to national development. In conjunction with MEC, also promote the training of human resources by creating mechanisms for them to remain in the public sector in order to distance us from dependence on large corporations; 5) Encourage and finance the creation of local technological arrangements to develop solutions that aim to overcome the precariousness of work brought about by Big Techs; 6) Guarantee resources to support and finance the creation of worker cooperatives, which can develop and control digital platforms for the provision of services, as well as other arrangements that avoid the concentration of technological power, both in foreign and national companies; 7) Launch an extensive interdisciplinary training program, including ethics, and retention of scientists and technicians, implementing and financing development centers for the creation and development of solutions in Artificial Intelligence, automation, robotics, quantum computing, local development of chips, high-speed communication networks, among others; 8) Use the Union’s purchasing power to encourage the country’s technological needs to be met, as well as foster interoperable solutions with free software and other open forms of technology development and sharing; 9) Rescue and recover Telebras, organizing a survey of reversible assets that are undervalued and held by telecommunications companies and implementing a policy to reduce digital asymmetries and inequalities. This can be done in partnerships in a coordinated manner with states, municipalities and non-governmental organizations, with consolidated technologies but also by developing innovative connection options.
Taking into account what has just been explained, it can be stated that Brazil will never become an independent country without ending its dependence on digital technology from abroad. However, it cannot occur abruptly because it would lead to the collapse of its economic structure given Brazil’s total dependence on digital technology owned by Big Techs. This is an impasse of gigantic proportions. Given this fact, the independence of the country’s digital technology from abroad must occur gradually, in a planned and sustainable manner over time, with the adoption of policies to strengthen scientific and technological research centers, public and private universities and national industry to develop essential skills to promote the substitution of imports of Big Techs products to ensure national self-sufficiency and, consequently, Brazil’s economic and social development. Brazil, which is celebrating 202 years of independence from the Portuguese colonizer, will only achieve its true independence as a nation when it overcomes its technological dependence, especially on digital technology.
* Fernando Alcoforado, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the SBPC- Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science, IPB- Polytechnic Institute of Bahia and of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer from the UFBA Polytechnic School and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, college professor (Engineering, Economy and Administration) and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning, urban planning and energy systems, was Advisor to the Vice President of Engineering and Technology at LIGHT S.A. Electric power distribution company from Rio de Janeiro, Strategic Planning Coordinator of CEPED- Bahia Research and Development Center, Undersecretary of Energy of the State of Bahia, Secretary of Planning of Salvador, is the author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018), Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019), A humanidade ameaçada e as estratégias para sua sobrevivência (Editora Dialética, São Paulo, 2021), A escalada da ciência e da tecnologia e sua contribuição ao progresso e à sobrevivência da humanidade (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2022), a chapter in the book Flood Handbook (CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida United States, 2022), How to protect human beings from threats to their existence and avoid the extinction of humanity (Generis Publishing, Europe, Republic of Moldova, Chișinău, 2023), A revolução da educação necessária ao Brasil na era contemporânea (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2023), Como construir um mundo de paz, progresso e felicidade para toda a humanidade (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2024) and How to build a world of peace, progress and happiness for all humanity (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2024).
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