Becoming transparent and feeling helpless: Expressions of vulnerability and inequality in online critiques of algorithmic surveillance in China

Abstract

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.