Computing as Oppression: Authoritarian Technology Poses a Worldwide Threat

Abstract

The advent and ubiquity of interconnected digital computer systems provides a cornucopia of opportunities for enabling oppression. While commercial (legitimate and criminal) enterprises use these for questionable purposes, big governmental systems, generally with industry cooperation, pose substantial threats to freedom and democracy and to collective problem-solving abilities (civic intelligence) worldwide. The government of China has established a startlingly pervasive network of surveillance, censorship, and incarceration for social control and is now expanding that system domestically while making the tools within that system available worldwide. While there are other perpetrators, including the United States, China's approach is further advanced and has fewer constraints than those found in more democratic states. The new evolving control/surveillance infrastructure based substantially on technological advances presents ethical and practical dilemmas for computer professionals and their associations. The preamble of the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct states that in order to act responsibly, computing professionals “should reflect upon the wider impacts of their work, consistently supporting the public good.” This commentary intends to point out the urgency of these issues, contribute to the wider discussion, and encourage social responsibility within the profession.