This thesis is an investigation of politics in the context of digital technologies. Its central claim is that technologies of what I call the digital ensemble express a politics that is very different from that of other technological ensembles. In order to come to an understanding of politics in the digital, this thesis explores three broader themes by way of discussions of three different technologies or assemblages of the digital. While I do not aim to establish an overarching conclusion as to a politics of the digital, I do identify both elements that are common among the three themes and where they diverge from one another. The first theme concerns the operation of power in the context of the database and examines how subjects are acted upon. I argue that databases represent both an amplification of the disciplinary mode of power and, as a product of that amplification, also express a new mode of power referred to by Deleuze as modulation. It is this concurrent operation of these two modes of power that produces the subject as 'dividual', both object and objectile at the same time, which has a number of consequences in terms of how subjects are controlled and governed. The second theme considers how the subject is constituted as actor and how this relates to the construction of the political in the context of the digital ensemble. This is achieved by way of looking at the concept of the interface. I argue that digital technologies constitute very different practices or forms of doing, both spatially and temporally. Using a broader phenomenological approach, I argue that these technologies constitute very different forms of being than that of the individual that is so central to much of modern political thought and its construction of the political. A key expression of the political in the digital ensemble, I argue, is the interface, enabling the production of a new human-machine assemblage constituting itself as flow/s. The third theme is an exploration of the conceptualisation of political action in the context of digital technologies. Here I make use of the technological assemblage of the network in exploring the actions of fluid beings. I argue that modern political thought has always conceptualised political action as the action of solid entities acting upon and in relation to other solid entities. In the context of digital technologies, however, I argue that such a conceptualisation of action is not very useful; if one conceptualises the actor as fluid, then so must its actions be conceptualised as fluid. It is in such a context that concepts of flow and turbulence gain great importance in coming to terms with politics in the digital. Indeed, to the extent that a digitisation of politics can be discerned, I argue it makes much sense to think of it as a politics of fluidity.

Deepfake technologies are a form of artificial intelligence (AI) which are based on generative adversarial networks (GANs), a development which has emerged out of deep learning (DL) and machine learning (ML) models. Using a data range which spans the years 2018 - 2021, this research explores public perceptions of deepfake technologies at scale by closely examining commentary found on the social video-sharing platform, YouTube. This open source, ground-level data documents civilian responses to a selection of user-produced, labelled deepfake content. This research fills a gap regarding public perception of this emerging technology at scale. It gauges an underrepresented set of responses in discourse to find that users demonstrate a spectrum of responses which veer between irony and concern, with greater volumes of commentary skewed towards the former. This study of user commentary also finds that YouTube as a wild space ultimately affords reflexive and critical thinking around the subject of deepfake technologies and could prove to be effective as a form of inoculation against disinformation.

摘要 台灣產官學研自2005年起推動被稱為準4G（第四代行動通訊）的WiMAX技術，然而今日WiMAX不但未成為國際通用的4G技術，在台灣市場也無法做大。本文以「行動者網絡理論」作為主要分析工具，輔以「後進技術框架」為鉅觀視野，還原台灣推動WiMAX的行動歷程。透過檢閱期刊文獻、官方資料、媒體報導，以及訪談科技法人、營運商、官員、技術專家、使用者、環運人士，研究結果如下： 2005年在代工困境及PC產業成長趨緩的背景下，台灣產官學研持續尋求解套辦法。產官人士發現，技術專利有助於刺激產業升級，而通訊技術則能帶動硬體裝置銷售成長，市場潛力大。當時恰逢電機電子工程師學會（IEEE）正在研發WiMAX，有許多技術專利可供搶佔，加上IEEE對外較開放，因此轉譯了台灣產官人士的興趣，促使WiMAX技術網絡在台灣萌生。 然而受到傳統電信商不支持、執照分區及載具限制等因素影響，WiMAX在台灣的用戶數始終停滯不前。為了解決市場限制，營運商透過命名、訊號轉換及體驗行銷等方式，力圖擴大市場。本研究也發現，WiMAX在使用者與訊號轉換器的共同運作之下，多被用成解決Wi-Fi覆蓋死角的網路技術，而未被當成行動網路來使用。傳統電信業者所慣用的綁約機制，則是影響使用者選擇進用WiMAX的關鍵因素。 承接前述脈絡，本文發現台灣推動WiMAX乃後進技術國家追尋現代性的顯著案例，我國治理組織推動WiMAX的主要目的並非佈局4G，而是為了取得專利、帶動產業升級、刺激產業典範轉移。在WiMAX網絡的萌生過程中，南韓則因為擁有成功的CDMA經驗，取代了歐美先進技術國家，成為台灣苦苦追趕的對象。 / Abstract From 2005, the Government-industry-university-research collaboration started to promote WiMAX, as the so called semi-4G, in Taiwan. However, WiMAX didn’t become the globally used standard, nor developed very well in Taiwan. The analytical frame of this paper is based on actor-network-theory（ANT）, while applying the post technological frame. The research data are collected from Journal articles, formal informations, media reports and 8 actors. The results are as follower： The dilemma that OEMs are facing and the down of PC market shake off economics downturn in Taiwan. The Government-industry-university-research collaboration continued to find the solution to change the manufacturing paradigm. Around 2005 they found out the IPR and wireless broadband are having much market potential. At that time the IEEE was developing WiMAX standard. WiMAX and its IPR translate the Government-industry-university-research collaboration’s interests. Due to the lack of telecom operator’s support, license arrangement, and limitations of device capabilities the subscribers of WiMAX didn’t grow massively. For expanding the market, operators used naming, signal device, and experiential marketing to promote WiMAX. However, WiMAX was used as a Wi-fi not a Mobile broadband by the users and signal devices. The contract tied with 3G and Wi-fi impacted the subscribing of WiMAX. The promotion of WiMAX in Taiwan was a significant case of post technological country. The aim of promoting WiMAX was not for 4G, but for the paradigm shifting. In the promoting process, South-Korea played an important role as advanced technological country for Taiwan to chase up.