AI from the Global Majority

This book provides crucial and largely underexplored Global South-centered perspective on AI governance, ethics, and regulation, challenging dominant narratives shaped by a limited number of developed countries from the Global North. AI from the Global Majority highlights the voices, experiences, and challenges of regions often marginalized in global AI discussions—Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East—bringing forward solutions tailored to their unique social, economic, and political contexts. Through a diverse collection of essays from leading experts, policymakers, and researchers, this volume examines AI’s impact on human rights, democracy, labor, cybersecurity, and digital sovereignty. It explores pressing issues such as algorithmic bias, data governance, disinformation, AI’s role in reinforcing or disrupting global power asymmetries, and the urgent need for inclusive and ethical AI policies. With real-world case studies from 16 countries, this book offers insights into how different nations and regions are shaping AI regulation, resisting digital colonialism, and advocating for fairer, more responsible technological development. The book contributors focus particularly on how AI systems can perpetuate social inequalities if not designed with diverse perspectives in mind. By analyzing labor exploitation in AI supply chains, discriminatory AI-driven decision-making, and the environmental costs of AI infrastructure, this book raises essential questions about the future of AI governance. It also proposes forward-thinking frameworks that prioritize transparency, accountability, and the participation of historically excluded communities. This book is essential reading for academics, policymakers, legal experts, and technology professionals interested in AI ethics, global technology governance, and digital rights. It is also a valuable resource for activists, journalists, and students looking to understand how AI can be developed and deployed in ways that are equitable and socially just.

Dr Luca Belli is Professor of Digital Governance and Regulation at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Law School, Rio de Janeiro, where he directs the Center for Technology and Society (CTS-FGV) and the CyberBRICS project. Luca is also editor of the International Data Privacy Law (IDPL) Journal, published by Oxford University Press, and Director of the Computers Privacy and Data Protection conference Latin-America (CPDP LatAm). He is currently member of the Advisory Council of the Brazilian Interministerial Committee for Digital Transformation and member of the Brazilian Presidency’s National Cybersecurity Committee. He is also board member of the Global Digital Inclusion Partnership and member of the Steering Committee of the Forum for Information & Democracy. He is author of more than 80 publications on law and technology, exploring data governance, cybersecurity, AI regulation, Internet access, and digital transformation. His works have been quoted by numerous media outlets, including The Economist, The New York Times , Financial Times, Forbes, Le Monde, BBC, China Today, The Beijing Review, The Hill, O Globo, Folha de São Paulo, El Pais, etc. Luca holds a PhD in Public Law from Université Paris Panthéon-Assas and can be found on LinkedIn and on Twitter as @1lucabelli
Walter Britto Gaspar is a researcher within the CyberBRICS and Data Regulations projects at FGV’s Center for Technology and Society and Ph.D. candidate at UFRJ. A lawyer, graduated Law at FGV in 2015, he holds a Master in Public Health from UERJ (2017), studying the interface between innovation, intellectual property and access to medicines policies in Brazil. Grantee of the Fundación Botín Programme for the Public Interest in Latin America (2013). Researcher in the Fiocruz and Shuttleworth Foundation project on intellectual property and access to medicines (2017). National Coordinator of the NGO Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (2013-2016). He is also a Certified Graphic Designer from the Istituto Europeo di Design (2018).