Theoretical Investigation of Algorithmic Power and Digital Colonialism in Nigerian Technology Governance: A Critical Information Studies Perspective

The governance of algorithmic systems in Nigeria is substantially conditioned by foreign technology platforms operating under regulatory frameworks developed for Western social contexts, creating conditions of digital power asymmetry that critical information studies scholars have termed digital colonialism. This study conducts an original theoretical investigation of algorithmic power and digital colonialism in Nigerian technology governance, contributing a contextualised critical theory framework for analysing structural technology dependency. A critical theory research design was applied, combining document analysis of Nigerian platform regulation attempts (Twitter ban, social media bills), platform policy documents from Meta, Google, and Twitter/X, NITDA platform compliance records, and ITU Digital Economy Policy documents with a qualitative expert discourse analysis drawing on interviews with 30 digital rights scholars, technology policy advocates, and regulatory officials. Analysis draws on Critical Discourse Analysis and Postcolonial Theory methods. Available critical information studies literature on digital colonialism identifies data extraction asymmetry, algorithmic standard-setting exclusion, and platform governance sovereignty constraints as the three primary structural dimensions of digital colonialist relations. Couldry and Mejias's Data Colonialism Theory, Kwet's Digital Colonialism Framework, and Spivak's Subaltern Studies perspective provide the theoretical foundations. Original contributions include a Nigerian Digital Sovereignty Framework that reconceptualises technology governance resistance beyond binary acceptance-rejection of foreign platforms, proposing adaptive negotiated sovereignty as the theoretically and practically superior alternative. Keywords: digital colonialism, algorithmic power, Nigerian technology governance, critical theory, digital sovereignty.