STATE DIGITALIZATION AND PLATFORM WORK AMONG MIGRANTS IN BRAZIL: OPPORTUNITIES OR TRAPS?

Author: Liliana Acero

ABSTRACT

The study addresses the transformations brought about by platform capitalism in Brazil—both at the state level and in migrants’ lives—following the introduction of digital technologies. It discusses the theoretical daily challenges faced by state agencies in integrating sophisticated digital systems into their operations while maintaining standards of cybersecurity, interoperability, and interconnection. Furthermore, it highlights the positive and negative consequences that digitalization brings to migration governance and the relationship between government and society, particularly regarding personal data privacy and security, given the heightened vulnerability of migrants.The paper characterizes the contemporary transnational nature of diasporas, wherein migrants experience a “double presence” by acting simultaneously locally and transnationally, and demonstrates how these processes intersectionally affect their subjectivities. The existing digital divide and the barriers migrants face in accessing these technologies are also illustrated. Methodologically, this is a qualitative, exploratory study consisting of a narrative-based, critical review of the academic literature and other relevant sources. Its main findings include a description of the radical changes in work organization generated by digitalization, how labor becomes precarious, and the ill-defined role of so-called “autonomous workers” within platforms, exemplified through a detailed analysis of platform drivers and delivery workers.

Keywords: State digitalization; Brazil; migration governance; platform-based delivery workers; platform-based transport workers; migrants’ subjectivities; personal data privacy and security; international organizations.

REFERENCES

  1. Abdou, A. M. (2021). Good Governance and COVID-19: The Digital Bureaucracy to Response the Pandemic (Singapore as a Model). Journal of Public Affairs 21, no. 4: e2656. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2656.
  2. Abílio, L. C. et al.(2021). Uberização e plataformização do trabalho no Brasil: conceitos, processos e formas. Sociologias, 23(57), 26-56. https://doi.org/10.1590/15174522-116484
  3. Acero,L.(2026 a) Diaspora of Venezuelan Migrants to Brazil and Chile: social integration or exclusion. Journal of Social Sciences and Management Review (IJSSMR), v. 9 (2), 628-648. https://doi.org/10.37602/IJSSMR.2026.9210
  4. Acero, L (2026b) MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES IN BRAZIL AS SOCIAL ACTORS: NARRATIVES AND EXPERIENCES OF RESILIENCE AND RESISTANCE. Journal of Social Sciences and Management Review (IJSSMR), v. 9 (3) 11-28 https://doi.org/10.37602/IJSSMR.2026.9302
  5. Aizencang-Kane, P. (2024) Diáspora digital: una nueva dimensión conceptual. Revista mexicana de ciencias políticas y sociales,  69 no.252 Ciudad de México https://doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.2448492xe.2024.252.88773
  6. Anthias, F. 2012. Transnational mobilities, migration research and intersectionality: towards a translocational frame. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, v. 2, n.2,p102-110. Helsinki-Norway, pp.102-110. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10202-011-0032-y
  7. Antunes, R.(2018) O Privilégio da Servidão. São Paulo: Boitempo.
  8. Beer, D. (2017) The Social Power of Algorithms. Information, Communication & Society, v. 20, n. 1, p. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1216147
  9. Brinkherhoof, J. M. (2009) Digital diasporas – Identity and transnational Engagement. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  10. Brubaker, R. (2005). The ‘diaspora’diaspora. Ethnic and racial studies, 28(1), 1-19.
  11. Buffat, A. (2015). Street-Level Bureaucracy and E-Government. Public Management Review 17, no. 1: 149–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2013.771699.
  12. Camargo, J., & Alencar, A. (2024). Governança digital migratória e a gestão de dados na fronteira Brasil-Venezuela. Revista de Administração de Roraima-RARR, 16(1), 7.
  13. Castro,   (2004). El  vocabulario  de  Michel  Foucault.  Un  recorrido  alfabético  por  sus temas,  conceptos  y  autores.  Buenos  Aires:  Prometeo/Universidad  Nacional de Quilmes..
  14. Cogo, D. et.al. ( 2023). Comunicación y ciudadanía de refugiados venezolanos en centros de acogida en la frontera Brasil-Venezuela. Intercom – Revista Brasileira de Ciências da Comunicação. v. 46, p. 1-16. https://doi.org/ 10.1590/1809-58442023104es
  15. Costa, E.& Wang, X. (2019) Being at Home on Social Media: Online Place-Making among the Kurds in Turkey and Rural Migrants in China. In: Smets,K., et al. (eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Media and Migration. SAGE Publishing, pp. 515-525
  16. Cremshaw, K. (1991) Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, v. 43, n. 6, pp.1241-1299. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1229039. Access in:  April 28, 2025.
  17. Dardot, P. & Laval, C.(2016) A Nova Razão do Mundo. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2016.
  18. Domenech,    (2018).   Gobernabilidad   migratoria:   producción   y   circulación   de   una categoría de intervención política. Temas de Antropología y Migración,10, 83-128.
  19. Domenech, E. et l. (2023). Migraciones, fronteras y política de datos: nuevos medios de control del movimiento en el espacio sudamericano. In: Domenech, E. et al.; (coords.), Movilidad, control fronterizo y luchas migrantes (pp. 317-355). Buenos Aires/México: CLACSO/Siglo XXI.
  20. Dubal, V. B. (2017) Wage slave or entrepreneur?: Contesting the dualism of legal worker identities. California Law Review, v. 105, p. 65–123.
  21. Fioravanti, L.et al. (2023). Plataformas Digitais e Fluxos Urbanos: Dispersão e Controle Do Trabalho Precário. Cadernos Metrópole 26(59): 69– 96 https://doi.org/10.1590/2236-9996.2024-5904
  22. Fleming, P. (2017) The Human Capital Hoax: Work, Debt and Insecurity in the Era of Uberization. Organization Studies, p. 1–19, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840616686129
  23. Franco, S. & Escudero, E.(2019) El presente del futuro del trabajo II. Montevideo – Uruguay: Psicolibros Universitario.
  24. Fumagalli, A. et al. Digital labour in the platform economy: The case of Facebook. Sustainability (Switzerland), v. 10, n. 6, p. 1–16, 20 https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061757
  25. Grau-Sarbia, M.& Fuster- Morell, M. (2021). Gender approaches in the study of the digital economy: A systematic literature review. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8(201), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00875-x
  26. Grohmann, R. (2020). Plataformização do trabalho: entre dataficação, financeirização e racionalidade neoliberal. Revista Eletrônica Internacional de Economia Política da Informação da Comunicação e da Cultura, 22(1), 106-122.
  27. Hall, S. (2014). A identidade cultural na pósmodernidade. Conjectura: filosofia e educação, 19(2), 199–203
  28. Haraway, D. (2013). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective 1. In: Women, science, and technology (pp. 455-472).
  29. Heeks, R. (2001). Understanding e-governance for development. Manchester: University of Manchester Press, 2001.
  30. Hill-Collins, P. (2002). Black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York-NY, Routledge, 2002.
  31. (2022). Pesquisa Nacional Por Amostra de Domicílios Contínua – PNAD Contínua. Sobre as Características Gerais Dos Moradores Em 2020 e 2021. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE. Nota técnica. https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/livros/liv101961.pdf.
  32. Jansson, G. & Erlingsson, O. (2014). “More E-Government, Less Street-Level Bureaucracy? On Legitimacy and the Human Side of Public Administration.” Journal
  33. Jaramillo-Dent, D., et al. (2023). Digital Leisure and Aspirational Work among Venezuelan Refugee and Migrant Women in Brazil. In: Feminist Futures of Work: Reimagining Labour in the Digital Economy (1st ed., pp. 241-252). Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group). https://doi.org/10.5117/9789463728386_ch18
  34. Kaine, S.& Josserand, E. (2019) The organisation and experience of work in the gig economy. Journal of Industrial Relations, p. 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185619865480
  35. Latonero, M., & Kift, P. (2018). On digital passages and borders: Refugees and the new infrastructure for movement and control. Social Media+ Society, 4(1), https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118764432
  36. Leurs, K.& Smets, K. (2024) Five questions for digital migration studies: Learning from digital connectivity and forced migration in (to) Europe. Revista de Administração de Roraima-UFRR, v. 16, n. 1 Edição Especial. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118764425
  37. Lima,G. & Machado, I. (2025) Pedagogias da imigração: os influencers imigrantes brasileiros na Irlanda e seus canais do Youtube. TRAVESSIA – Revista do Migrante – Ano XXXVIII, Nº 103.
  38. Maitland, C. (2018) Digital Lifeline? ICTs for Refugees and Displaced Persons.
  39. Mansur, G. (2014). Migração e crime: desconstrução das políticas de segurança e tráfico de pessoas [tese de doutorado]. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia Social, Unicamp, IFCH, Campinas.
  40. Mendoza, F.& Delgado ,J.M. (2022) Tecnologías de Información Del Gobierno Digital: Acceso a Internet y Barrera Digital Caso Loreto 2021.Ciencia Latina Revista CientíficaMultidisciplinar 6, no. 4: 4. https://doi.org/10.37811/cl_rcm.v6i4.2586.
  41. Palotti, P. et.al. (2020). Policy design e múltiplas evidências: proposta analítica da dinâmica da política de transformação digital dos serviços públicos da administração pública federal brasileira. Brasília: IPEA p.79-90
  42. Pires, A. et.al. (2026). JOVENS ENTREGADORES EM PLATAFORMAS: TRAJETÓRIAS EDUCACIONAIS E LABORAIS. Cadernos CEDES, 46, e298147. https://doi.org/10.1590/CC298147
  43. Ponzanesi, S. (2020). Digital diasporas: Postcoloniality, media and affect. Interventions, 22(8), 977-993. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369801X.2020.1718537
  44. Ragulina , J. V., et al., (2021). Adaptation to the Risks of Digitalization: New Survival Trends for States in a Multipolar World. Risks (Basel) 9, no. 12: 1–21. ; https://doi.org/10.3390/risks9120218
  45. R4V (2020) – Information and Communication Needs Assessment. Available at:: https://r4v. info/en/documents/details/73683.Access in: June 2, 2026.
  46. Roubaud, F., et al. (2024). Structural transformation and the platform economy in the labour market: The case of drivers and delivery workers in Brazil. DOCUMENT DE TRAVAIL DT/2024‐08 Paris:
  47. Rubilar Unda , A. ( 2020) A DIGITALIZAÇÃO DO TRABALHO DOS MOTORISTAS DE APLICATIVO NO BRASIL E NO CHILE: ENTRE REDES, PLATAFORMAS E PROJETOS Available at: https://repositorio.ufscar.br/server/api/core/bitstreams/c6e58958-439f-4405-8639-1de6d618c16b/content Access: 10/6/2026.
  48. Santi, S. (2020). ¿Qué es la “migración ordenada”? Hacia el multilateralismo asimétrico como motor de las políticas de control migratorio global. Colombia Internacional, 104, 3-32. https://doi. org/10.7440/colombiaint104.2020.01
  49. Santos,G. (2023) Redes de organização da migração no Brasil O papel da OIM e a produção do conhecimento sobre a população migrante Revista Tramas y Redes ( 5) Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales – CLACSO, pp. 191-205 https://doi.org/10.54871/cl4c500r
  50. Schlesinger,A. (2017). Intersectional HCI: Engaging identity through gender, race, and class. In: Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems – CHI’17, 5412–5427. https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025766
  51. Shapiro, A.(2018) Between autonomy and control: Strategies of arbitrage in the “on-demand” economy. New Media and Society, v. 20, n. 8, p. 2954–2971. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444817738236
  52. Srnicek, N. (2017). Platform Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2017.
  53. Tabassum, S., & Faklaris, C. (2024). Digital privacy for migrants: Exploring current research trends and future prospects. arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.02520.
  54. Todolí-Signes, A. The ‘gig economy’: employee, self-employed or the need for a special employment regulation? Transfer-European Review of Labour and Research, p. 1–13, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1177/1024258917701381
  55. Touro- Madureira et al., 2025 The Missing Link: Identifying Digital Intermediaries in E-Government.  Under review https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.70033
  56. Van Doorn, N. (2017) Platform labor: on the gendered and racialized exploitation of low-income service work in the ‘on-demand’ economy. Information Communication and Society, v. 20, n. 6, p. 898–914, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2017.1294194
  57. Veruska,F. & De Mello, M. T.(2017) Segurança e saúde dos motoristas profissionais que trafegam nas rodovias do Brasil. Revista Saúde Pública, v. 51, n. 26, p. 1– 7. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1518-8787.2017051006761
  58. Zanforlin, S. C.; Grohmann, R. (2022). Precarious Migrants in a Sharing Economy| On-Demand Migrants: Entrepreneurialism, Platformization, and Migration in Brazil. International Journal of Communication, v. 16, p. 18, 2022. Available at: https://bit.ly/4hV9Put Access in May 18, 2026.
  59. Zanforlin, S. et.al. (2025). Dispositivos de fronteira, tecnologias digitais e soberania: uma leitura da Operação Acolhida como parte de um ecossistema de desinformação. Contracampo: Brazilian Journal of Communication, 44(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.22409/contracampo.v44i2.64016