Commodification of Facts

The transformation of factual claims into commodities that can be owned, traded, and monetized. Facts become intellectual property, data becomes assets, and news becomes content. The commodification of facts means that access to facts is restricted by paywalls, copyright, and proprietary databases. It also means that facts are packaged for consumption, stripped of context and uncertainty, to make them more marketable. The truth becomes a product.

Example: “The database of climate records was locked behind a corporate paywall. Commodification of facts: even the temperature had a price.”

Elitism of Facts

The assumption that access to facts, and the ability to interpret them correctly, is a mark of intellectual and moral superiority, and that those who lack facts or disagree with “settled” facts are ignorant or irrational. The elitism of facts ignores that access to facts is unequally distributed by class, education, and infrastructure. It also ignores that facts alone rarely settle value disputes; what matters is how facts are framed and what values guide their interpretation. It turns factual knowledge into a status marker.

Example: “He sneered at people who hadn’t read the same studies, ignoring that the studies were behind paywalls and written in jargon. Elitism of facts: using knowledge as a weapon to exclude.”

Commodification of Facts by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal April 20, 2026