Filling the Gap: Technology-Facilitated Repression of Social Movements in the Spanish Context

The relationship between social movements and new technologies has been widely studied (Earl and Kimport, 2011; Fominaya and Gillan, 2017; Treré, 2018), as has the role of digital technologies in controlling dissent. Extensive research exists on surveillance capitalism (Zuboff, 2020), Big Data and protest (Degli, 2014; Ferguson, 2017), and more recently, the role of artificial intelligence in policing (Polcumpally and Rahar, 2022; Drage and Frabetti, 2024). However, there has been limited integration of studies on social movements and repressive technologies, with most work focusing on autocratic regimes and their suppression of dissent (Topak and Mekouar, 2022; Kuznetsova, 2024). The lack of research in other contexts presents a notable gap in the literature, especially as emerging digital technologies, such as AI, significantly impact how protests and social movements are controlled.

The shortage of empirical studies is particularly pronounced in Spain, where the literature on technology-facilitated repression is largely confined to human rights organization reports (Defender a Quien Defiende, 2024; Scott-Railton et al, 2022; Miralles et al, 2021) and a few academic works (Gunzelmann, 2022; Maroto and Segura, 2018).

This paper offers a literature review on technology-facilitated state repression of social movements, as part of a broader PhD thesis focused on the Spanish context, seeking to identify key findings and gaps in existing research. Additionally, preliminary results from interviews with Spanish human rights defenders, academics, and activists who have experienced technology-facilitated repression will be presented. Therefore, this paper seeks to expose the main repertoires of technology-facilitated repression, their impacts, the resistance strategies developed by activists, and potential future lines of research on this issue, contributing to the collective reflection on how digital transformation may erode (or strengthen) struggles for social justice.