pol106 midterm

cbc lecture 1

deibert, 2020, intro to data prob and surveillance

impact of ai on dem

summerfield et al, 2025

canada ai minister

deibert, globe and mail, 2025

big other journal

zuboff, 2015

cbc 2

deibert, 2020, social media want our data n will do anything for it for profit

interview with zuboff article

demnow, 2019

phone listening?

digital rights bytes, nd

cbc 3

use of disinformation in social media

ethics of sm addiction

bhargava and velasquez 2021

technocarcinization + enshittification

doctorow 2026

cbc 5

environmental impacts of tech use and ewaste (stuff behind it all)

submarine cables article

gervasi 2023

cloud is a factory article

ensmenger 2021

border tech surveillance

molnar 2023

gig workers exploitation

HRW

dependent on ecosystem article

deibert globe and mail 2020

higher + lower functions

deibert, lower = advertised use, higher = data collection and extraction to sell

relentless logic

deibert never ending evolution for no good reason of data collection that has no end point

ideal democracy

rights and freedoms protected, citizen participation and equality, elections and leadership, governance and rule of law

social media

deibert, communication environment thats a vehicle for relentless collection and monetization of user data t

vicious cycle

prolif of surveillance methods leads to paranoia, cynicism, and withdrawal in society which causes the normalization of impunity and authoritarian practices which allows for more changes for algorithmic rage farming which will incite anger and give the govt more reason to crack down on dissidence through surveillance methods and circle again

reset

cbc 1 deibert we need to rethink and reset social media

data sphere

movement of data, deibert

surveillance capitalism

shoshana zuboff, constant surveillance and collection of user data and info that is fueld y monitoring and capitalistic desires since they use user’s private experience as a source of material; it thrives on ignorance and predicts and modifies human behaviour to produce revenue and market control

communication ecosystem

digital tech = huge global planetary infrastrcuture

data brokers

human rights bytes, companies that collect buy and sell user data

behavioural modification

summerfield et al 2025, social media companies use understanding of psychology to nudge human behaviour to their commercial outcomes

social inequality/info asymmetry

summerfield et al 2025/HRW — we lack information about the companies but the companies know everything about us

big other

zuboff 2015, sovereign power, in a time of no legit authority and sanctions, that gets rid of autonomy and everything is independent, exclusive and also eliminates contracts, governance, and market democracy. It is inescapable and everywhere and even if you think that you are making your own options, in reality big other nudged you there. it is an automated surveillance power!!!

big data

constantion/zuboff 2015, changes everyday things into a commodity and blurs line between datas nature and the public

logic of accumulation

zuboff 2015, overarching term for system in whcih human experience is captured and made commodity

behavioural surplus

zuboff, human data is captured including their behaviours and experiences during data scalping (proprietary info) and then the behavioural surplus becomes commodity

capitalism

takes things outside fothe market and brings them in as commodities. went from cap to industrial cap to tech cap to surveillance cap

pixel tracking

deibert, when you click on smth on a site it send info to other sites so that they can use that for ads

technocarcinization

doctorow, 2026 all social medias become facebook (controlling and invasive)

enshittification

doctorow 2026, 3 satges of decay ofonline pkatforms as they abandon users for profit 1. lock in users, 2. abuse users for business customers, 3. abuse everyone for max profit

ideal public sphere

deibert, social spcae where diff opinions are expressed, probs of gen concern are expressed and solution is discussed collectively

techlash

deibert, growing irritation w social medias ill effects and addicitve qualities

edward bernays

pr using behavioural psych to behaviourally modify ppl

habermas ideal conditions for democratic public sphere

universal access, discursive equality, autonomous from state and corporations, orientation towards reason, sincerity and transparency from all

bf skinner

rewards and punishments for mice, behavioural psych, ppl respond to variable rewards

variable rewards

bf skinner, give dopamine hits and the anticipation of them are similar to drugs and make ppl keep going

dark patterns

deibert, patterns built in on social media that nudges users to make decisions in best interest of company

4hs of meta by legislators

hook, hold, harvest, hide

reactive enforcement

social media companies reactively enforce moderation but its too late and they do it too hard

algoritihmic amplification

algorithms amplify scandalous things (including disinfo)

automated moderation

moderation is done by algorithms/systems but also sometimes outsourced to humans in third world countries

submarine cables

gervasi 2023, cables undersea that run broadband iternet for countries, its a geopolitical issue bc everyones dependent on them

the cloud

ensmenger 2021, set of computational resources that can be accessed via internet. acts as a veil so users dont realize theres stuff its like a cloud ephemeral and far away when in reality its rooted here

industrialization

ensmenger 2021, new machines dont replace humans but create new cheaper labour to operate, changes work not workplace

industrialization of programming

ensmenger 2021 transofmr system where skilled human labour was central into one where low wage low skill machine operators acomplished the same objective

critical minerals

elements that are important for econ and tech, monopolised mainly by china

securitize

look at smth as a national secuirty risk which causes more surveillance

right to repair

deibert, law in ca, owners of electric tech can freely fix, maintain, and modify their own products w access to places to aid them or do it themselves

shipping emissions

deibert cbc 5 huge amount of shipping emissions from tech and supplies from companies

ewaste

deibert cbc 5 more ewaste than erecycling

virtual/digital borders

molnar 2023, w use of surveillance tech and increased utlization of techu automoderation at border and in immigration processes,, the border has become as much digital as physical

border surveillance

molnar 2023 drones, lie detectors, biometrics, robo dogs, with effects such a sdeath and increased traumq

normative power

molnar 2023, normailized certain tech over others for gain (surveillance). we normalized surveillance tech which is just ofr the profit and betterment of privatized surveillance companies

technosolutionism

molnar 2023 ,deibert 2020, using tech as a solution to problems that can be fixed by humans (often made worse by tech)

reward systems

HRW, systems on platforms to incentivize workers to continue doing jobs that are unfavurable to them

gig/platform/flex workers

workers who work for platforms who are rarely considered employees

new normal

deibert 2020 globe and mail, a new normal where surveillance becomes normal in private sector and we lose the difference between home and work and its integrated into everything

mission creep

deibert, 2020 globe and mail , gradual expansion of digital surveillance that has been enabled so it will want to be used for a variety of other social and political prolemsn (like relentless logic)

facebook papers

facebook knew the probs and dgaf

technological mirage

deibert cbc 5 we dont see the exhaust and labour it takes to do stuff on internet

sunk costs

deibert cbc 5 global non-renewable resources, manufacturing, shipping, energy, etc that will affect us in future and we’ll haeve to reckin w

rare earth elements mining

deibert cbc 5 risky for workers and done in bad conditions that are exploitative for workers

data centers

where all computers are hosted and its also terirble for environemts and comm

planned obsolescence

deibert cbc 5, things are made to end

microtargeting

deibert and summerfield et al 2025, companies target you specifically indiviualized

private realm

zuboff 2015?, allows moral autonomu and functioning democracy (identity, personality, etc)

attention econ businesses

velasquez and bhargava 2025, user is not source of rebenue but their attention is the product