Unpacking digital sovereignty: strategic narratives from China, the European Union and Russia

The concept of digital sovereignty is relatively new, debatable, and has many definitions. One thing is certain: states as old, local and stable structures are actively interacting with the new phenomenon called Cyberspace, a peer-to-peer communication network that creates its own new, but already fairly stable values and hierarchies. One could argue that in the course of the development of cyberspace, states are desperately striving to assert their sovereignty in the digital space. Examples of state involvement in the digital sphere are the Golden Shield Project (also known as the Great Firewall); the General Data Protection Regulation and the GAIA-X project for the European Union; and the Cybersecurity Law for China; and the concept of the RuNet and information sovereignty for the Russian Federation.

Our article explores how ‘digital sovereignty’ is framed, communicated and received in China, the European Union and Russia by adopting ‘strategic narratives’ as an analytical concept to interpret the meaning(s) attributed to the term by these three actors in their respective strategic positions.

First, this article observes how different actors narrate ‘digital sovereignty’; second, an analysis of the media ecology conveys how the narratives are channelled to audiences; third, a textual analysis of selected policy reports from think tanks and civil society will interpret how policy-making communities in the EU, China, and Russia perceive each others’ narrative of ‘digital sovereignty’. In the final section, this article offers a comparative analysis of the strategic narratives analysis.