Governmentality, Control, and Digital Policy: Applying French Theory to Global Digital Governance

This article examines global digital governance through the lens of French theory, specifically Michel Foucault' s governmentality and Gilles Deleuze' s control societies.It challenges the prevailing continuum between techno-expansionist discourse, which perceives technology as emancipatory, and techno-containment discourse, which focuses on risk mitigation.Drawing on Foucault, the analysis demonstrates how digital governance operates through subtle normalization rather than explicit prohibition.However, several limitations are identified in applying Foucault' s state-centric framework to transnational digital infrastructures.Consequently, the inquiry turns to Deleuze' s theory of modulation and the "individual" to understand algorithmic governance.In this context, subjects are categorized based on their recombinant data profiles, rendering traditional rights-based regulations increasingly ineffective.The article concludes that proposing "lines of flight" as creative alternatives to regulatory containment was exemplified by open-source movements that constitute new forms of digital autonomy.