The Erasure of Brown: How the Internet Ignores Entire Communities

When browsing social media and mainstream platforms, identity is often framed through a white-and-black binary. But what about the billions of people who don’t fit either? From Indigenous peoples of the Americas to Arabs, Filipinos, South Asians, and countless other brown communities, the internet’s refusal to acknowledge “brown” as a category is a global form of digital erasure.

The White-Black Binary of Internet Culture

Online spaces in North America — and increasingly around the world — reinforce a narrow racial lens:

• White identity: Seen as the default and most visible online.

• Black identity: Recognized but still filtered through stereotypes.

Everyone outside of this binary — especially brown communities — are invisibilized, mislabeled, or erased altogether.

Brown Erasure is Systemic, Not Accidental

• Colonial legacy: By removing brown as a category, Indigenous identity in the Americas and global brown communities are silenced.

• Algorithmic bias: Platforms prioritize white and black content while brown creators are pushed aside.

• Global reach: Arabs, Filipinos, Latinos, South Asians, and Indigenous peoples all face the same flattening of identity.

Real-World Consequences

When brown communities are erased online, the ripple effects are severe:

• Political neglect: Without visibility, governments ignore or underfund brown populations.

• Economic exclusion: Brands and businesses bypass brown communities because the internet pretends they don’t exist.

• Cultural silencing: Language, art, and traditions are harder to preserve in spaces designed to erase them.

Toward a Brown Digital Identity

If the internet is built to exclude brown communities, then new systems must be created:

• Platforms that center Indigenous and brown voices, not just white-and-black narratives.

• Recognition of brown identity as distinct, not an afterthought.

• Digital sovereignty movements where Indigenous, Arab, Filipino, South Asian, and other brown peoples build their own internet spaces.

The erasure of brown online is not random — it’s part of the same colonial playbook that erased brown communities offline. The internet is simply the newest battlefield.