Since the start of June, millions of protestors have taken to the streets in Hong Kong. The demonstrations started as a backlash to a proposed extradition law, but they've snowballed into protests over wider economic and political issues. At the same time, the protests show a real-time collision of emerging tech and the surveillance state—in physical and digital spaces.
Artificial intelligence: In mainland China, privately held apps that disseminate news, short-form video, and user-generated content leaned on AI censors to scrub info related to the Tiananmen Square anniversary in June. These platforms have also boosted pro-Beijing media in recent weeks.
Facial recognition: Authorities are running face scans on footage taken from Hong Kong's tens of thousands of CCTV cameras. Protestors are using facial recognition to ID and dox police officers. They're also shining lasers at cameras to jam authorities' facial recognition systems.
China is one of the leading exporters of these tech surveillance tools, which suggests Hong Kong could become a blueprint for future crackdowns. But as tech like facial recognition and encrypted messaging has democratized, protestors are showing how to flip the script.
+ In the U.S., the Pentagon is testing mass surveillance balloons over the Midwest.
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