Media and Digital Technology in Migration towards Digital Migration Studies: From Supporting Roles in Migration to Inequalities in Mobility
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Abstract
This article draws on documentary research to survey and review the literature on the phenomena of digital media and technology in migration. It is divided into three main topics: 1) integrative studies of media and migration, 2) digital communication and migration, and 3) digital migration studies, which include the aspects of epistemology, paradigm, methodology, and research ethics. The article reveals that migrants utilize digital media and technology in various ways related to their migration. These include using them as communication tools within migrant communities and between themselves and people in their countries of origin, for self-identification, virtual community building, and as platforms for political campaigns, leading to the emergence of diasporic media. Digital media is also identified as a significant factor in facilitating continuous migration. Meanwhile, states use digital media and technology to disseminate state ideologies for political and economic purposes, control human mobility, and manage migration. During the refugee/migrant crisis in Europe up to 2015, academics and researchers across multiple disciplines studied these phenomena, establishing digital migration studies as a distinct approach. This approach aims to illustrate the power relations involving various actors and the hierarchical access to digital media and technology in migration. It also questions the access to, and benefits derived from big data, including the rise of data science. On one hand, data usage demonstrates the progress of technological development. On the other hand, it dehumanizes migrants by treating them as data points for policy making in migration management, which creates inequality and prejudice against migrants and refugees.
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References
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