Work

Coded panic: Global techno-authoritarianism and algorithmic surveillance of queer bodies

Year: 2025

Type: editorial

Abstract: As states are increasingly turning authoritarian, they utilise algorithmic technologies to extend their repertoire of surveillance and control. Simultaneously, we are witnessing a global gender panic followed by intensified surveillance and bans on LGBTQ+ content, healthcare, and protection. What happens at this intersection between authoritarian states, gender panic and algorithmic surveillance technologies? I present coded panic as a conceptual framework for understanding how the authoritarian panic over gender deviance is appropriated and exercised through algorithmic code, and what this implies for queer liveability when authoritarian desires of control intersect with colonial legacies of policing gender and sophisticated algorithmic surveillance. To exemplify coded panic and map its characteristics, I first examine the Hungarian Government's use of facial recognition software to identify and fine Pride Parade attendees before I turn to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's allowance to employ intelligence activities to surveil gender identity. By describing these cases as coded panic , I provide a novel lens for asserting the relationship between authoritarianism, queerness and the digital, beyond the particularity of the cases, which encourages concerted conversations on how techno-authoritarian developments infringe on gender and human rights in our algorithmic societies.

Source: Dialogues on Digital Society

DOI: 10.1177/29768640251379100

Author: Christoffer Koch Andersen

Institution: University of Cambridge

Language: English

Topic: Ethics and Social Impacts of AI

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Gender equality

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,400