Algorithmic Silences: Postcolonial Blind Spots in Dutch AI Media Discourse

Jessy de Cooker, Adája Unlandt and Jessie van Wijk
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Jessy de Cooker: Department of Journalism, Fontys Hogescholen, The Netherlands
Adája Unlandt: Department of Journalism, Fontys Hogescholen, The Netherlands
Jessie van Wijk: Department of Journalism, Fontys Hogescholen, The Netherlands

Media and Communication, 2026, vol. 14

Abstract: The Kingdom of the Netherlands comprises four countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten, as well as three public entities located on the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. All these regions are former Dutch colonies and are located in the Global South. News coverage from former colonisers toward their former colonies is shaped by historical frameworks, political interests, evolving global power dynamics, and unequal news creation. This study specifically focuses on AI coverage in European-Dutch and Caribbean-Dutch newspapers, analysing 128 articles published between 2015 and 2025. By using a structured approach to analyse AI positioning, agency attribution, political-geographical framing, and epistemic visibility, this study develops a framework for examining and understanding how news media construct narratives along colonial lines. The analysis uncovers a structural imbalance: European-Dutch media rarely engage with AI developments in the Dutch Caribbean, producing what de Sousa Santos (2015) calls a “sociology of absences,” while Caribbean outlets frequently report on European-Dutch contexts and cite Dutch policymakers, institutions, and technologies. Across both media systems, AI is predominantly described as an externally produced technology, reinforcing Northern epistemic authority and positioning the Caribbean as a recipient rather than a co-producer of AI futures. These patterns reflect structural postcolonial inequalities within the Kingdom’s media ecosystem. The study highlights the need for more inclusive and locally informed reporting on AI to ensure that technological developments and societal implications in the Dutch Caribbean are part of the wider public debate.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; coloniality; Dutch Caribbean; epistemic visibility; Global North–South relations; journalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:meanco:v14:y:2026:a:12491

DOI: 10.17645/mac.12491

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