Digital Interfaces of Repression and Resistance

Abstract

Abstract This chapter proposes a discursive view of how digital technologies feature in the social psychologies of repression and resistance in a repressive state. Contemporary authoritarian states increasingly assimilate digital technologies to misinform and repress publics. In counterforce, social resistance harnesses these tools to promote public truth and, cloaked by digital anonymity, protect oppositionists from state harassment. We conceptualize digital space as a political sphere for multi-layered practices of agency in authoritarian societies. Invoking the Philippine experience during the rollout of an anti-terrorism law, we highlight asymmetrical social psychological relations in the political clash, and the necessity for consolidating meso-level and micro-level technological forces against a powerful digitalized state. Finally, we suggest novel, interdisciplinary directions for the study of digital resistance in authoritarian states and beyond.