Becoming transparent and feeling helpless
Expressions of vulnerability and inequality in online critiques of algorithmic surveillance in China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12834698 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Haili Li (0000-0002-8487-7170, University of Exeter, corresponding author), Genia Kostka (0000-0002-3696-9513, Freie Universität Berlin) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 100214-100214 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-22 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asian journal of social science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1568-4849 • E-ISSN: 2212-3857 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100214 |
| OpenAlex | W4415515100 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 27 |
During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous countries, including China, deployed digital surveillance technologies as part of broader social governance strategies. While these technologies offered certain benefits, their widespread application also posed risks, including algorithmic bias and privacy infringement. This study examines critical discussions (or critiques) on Chinese social media concerning various problems induced by algorithmic surveillance technologies such as the Health Code and Travel Code during the pandemic. Employing computational and qualitative textual analysis, our findings highlight recurring accounts of algorithmic and technical failures that users encountered when interacting with surveillance technologies. These disruptions exposed individuals to heightened algorithmic vulnerability and intensified existing inequalities, particularly through unequal treatment and negative emotional experiences. Our research further implies that the critical discussions often framed the Chinese government’s massive deployment of algorithmic surveillance technologies as exacerbating pre-existing issues, such as the digital divide and social bias, especially for vulnerable groups like older people. Meanwhile, our analysis of online critiques highlights growing concerns and skepticism among some users toward both algorithmic technologies and state governance
China · Corporate governance · Feeling · Inequality · Skepticism · Social inequality · Social media · Software deployment · Vulnerability (computing · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Privacy, Security, and Data Protection
Algorithmic Fairness
Algorithmic Accountability
Red, yellow, green or golden
Living in the era of codes
Age-Related Digital Divide during the Covid-19 Pandemic in China
Examining Public Concerns and Attitudes toward Unfair Events Involving Elderly Travelers during the Covid-19 Pandemic Using Weibo Data
From Pandemic Control to Data-Driven Governance
As Networks Fail
Hold on to the Green Horse’
Local Politics in the Age of Automated Decision-Making in China
Navigating the digital age
Distrust of Artificial Intelligence
Topics, Concepts, and Measurement
Comparative analysis of China's Health Code, Australia's Covidsafe and New Zealand's Covid Tracer Surveillance Apps
Seeing Like a State, Enacting Like an Algorithm
Data deprivations, data gaps and digital divides
Making sense of algorithms
How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression
Covid-19 and Health Code
| Highly cited | No |
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