Free Digital Labor as a New Form of Exploitation: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

The notion of Free Digital Labor has emerged at the center of scientific debate with the advent of platform capitalism. This notion denotes the apparently free activity that users perform on digital platforms, producing, often unknowingly, data without any monetary remuneration. It is therefore particularly useful in signaling the progressive loss of a clear distinction between working time and leisure time. The paradigmatic example of the valorization of these activities is provided by Google and Facebook. Their accumulation system is based on a multi-sided market logic, in which the extraction of user data is combined with online advertising. Recent debate has raised several objections to the notion of Free Digital Labor. Our aim is to clarify the terms of the debate and to revive the relevance of the notion of Free Digital Labor through a historical and theoretical analysis of the transformations of the relationship between capital and labor.