As the protests in China go on, technology is used by the protesters as well as the government. As in other countries, a high risk race between protesters and police can be watched in China. And again, western tech companies seem to be playing on the governments side.
In every protest and uprising there are different struggles: To find each other, to stay together, to find a voice, and a symbol. And to find a way to keep ahead of the governments forces.
Modern technology seems to provide many possibilities for social struggles. On the other side and often overlooked it also provides many resources for police and prosecution.
As tech companies like GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft) are dominating the “western countries” with their technology, they are gathering massive amounts of information about the users. And it is very interesting to watch with whom they share this pool of information.
While western “social” media are banned in China, products of western companies are not.
Google tried in the past to please the Chinese government with special features.
Shortly after the A4- or White-Paper-Protests or -Movement (A4革命, 白紙革命, A4运动, 白紙运动) appeared on Chinese streets, Apple released an iPhone update for Chinese users. This update, as 9to5Mac wrote and newspapers as the Guardian and QZ picked up, has changed the AirDrop function.
AirDrop was used by protesters in different countries to circumvent surveilled networks. In Hong Kong many people used AirDrops to share their opinion of the government and mobilize for action.
Nobody knows how the current wave of dissent in China will turn – but as people use technology for more and more aspects of their lives, more and more aspects become visible for tech companies and governments.
As we are integrating more technology in our lives, that we cannot control, we make ourselves and the ones around us easy to track, wherever we go.
As examples from around the world show us, on the long run this might not be the smartest thing to do.