Datafied Dissent: Activism and Resistance In the Digital Society

In digital societies, technological control and surveillance have become omnipresent, either representing a direct extension of state power, or through an unregulated market which has allowed big tech companies unfettered growth (Mejias & Couldry, 2024). Platforms, data, algorithms, and AI have expanded across all sectors of society – from our most important social institutions to our most intimate personal relationships. Yet these infrastructures do not go uncontested. They have become sites of negotiation, contestation, and rejection (Beraldo & Milan, 2019; Ślosarski, 2023; Sadowski, 2025) – revealing that digital transformation is not merely technical, but a socio-technical and political process. Visible across various contexts, both in the Global North and in many Global South(s) (Milan & Treré, 2019), people are speaking out against the consequences of this radically accelerated digital transformation. This rapid and pervasive technological expansion has fostered new forms of collective action and resistance: everyday acts of resistance against algorithmic systems (Bonini & Treré, 2024); collective actions against data centers (Edwards et al., 2024); protests against AI encroaching on jobs and education (McQuillan, 2022); anti-surveillance activism targeting facial recognition and biometrics (Ferguson, 2026); hacktivism disrupting corporate and governmental initiatives (Wright, 2024); legal battles over digital rights (Custers, 2022); even anti-tech extremism (Lubrano, 2025). Such cases may combine multiple issues, including workers’ rights, environmentalism, and socioeconomic inequalities. This joint session is open to exploring a wide variety of new and emerging expressions of contentious politics and social movements related to new technologies and digital societies.