Data Narratives: Civic Media Observatory's project on Data Governance

Image made by Giovana Fleck, used with permission.

As distrust of the tech industry has grown, so has the debate over data governance. A range of interest groups advocate for distinct approaches, and civil societies also do not have an agreed set of priorities for regulation, in part because how diverse cultures conceptualize and value data varies significantly.

In 2023 Global Voices won the Future of Data Challenge to identify and explain narratives about data in Global Majority countries. The resulting project, the Data Narratives Civic Media Observatory, aims to identify and understand the discourse on data used for governance and policy in El Salvador, Brazil, Turkey, Sudan, and India. Employing our Civic Media Observatory methods and continuing the work developed by Unfreedom Monitor, we map how data is discussed and framed, and who benefits from different narratives about the effects of data.

Data Governance has become a contested policy arena. Many of the issues now grouped under the umbrella of data governance were previously addressed through concepts like data privacy, data management, or open data. Each of these areas had its own specific focus and interests. Narratives about data governance have been dominated by perspectives coming out of centers of technology development and regulatory authority in North America and Western Europe.

For the purpose of this research project, aiming at encompassing those evolving concepts, we employ a definition of data governance from Tim Davies’ literature review on the topic:

Data governance concerns the rules, processes and behaviours related to the collection, management, analysis, use, sharing and disposal of data – personal and/or non-personal. Good data governance should both promote benefits and minimise harms at each stage of relevant data cycles.

Global Voices’ research reflects diverse perspectives across a range of Global Majority countries. In Sudan, data governance is viewed by activists and researchers as the regulations and measures that govern the management of data, with a strong emphasis on responsible data handling to prioritize the needs of people. Brazil's regulator's approach highlights the complexity and breadth of data governance, recognizing it as inherently political and multifaceted. In El Salvador, data governance is understood as a regulatory framework focused on data protection, privacy, integrity, and the authenticity of data, particularly in the context of Artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency regulation. India conceptualizes data governance in layers, encompassing data protection, data security, and online content governance, acknowledging the significant role of Big Tech in shaping these fields. Turkey sees data governance as an extension of digital governance, intertwined with internet and information governance, but finds it challenging to define due to broad and overlapping terminology.

Stakeholders seeking to improve data governance need a nuanced understanding of narratives about data, especially in geographic areas where human rights stakes are high. Data narratives emerging from countries that use technology to support authoritarian governance are especially important to understand. States that use technology to advance repressive political interests have a significant interest in shaping the rules that govern data use in order to justify authoritarian practices, such as surveilling citizens, spreading disinformation, and monitoring people’s activities by collecting and analyzing data streams.

Narratives influence how we understand and justify the governance of data. However, we lack a rigorous, comprehensive analysis of those narratives, how they work, and who benefits from their propagation. If we, as advocates for just and equitable approaches to the governance of data, mean to change how data is used in the governance of societies. This is especially true in countries where the use of data exacerbates inequities, injustice, or nondemocratic governance.

Below, please find stories and reports that originated from the research conducted by our local experts, as well as a public dataset of data narratives, events, emerging issues, and exemplary media items.

Browse our public database to discover the incidents we've been monitoring:

Click on the “Extensions” tab to access an explanation for each piece of the analysis.

Meet the team:

Management and editorial

Asteris Masouras – Coordinating Editor
Georgia Popplewell – Narratives Editor
Giovana Fleck – Project Lead
Ivan Sigal – CMO Methodology Designer
Samanta Azpurua – Coordinating Editor
Şerife Wong – Project Strategist and Analyst
Tim Davies – Technical Lead