Florian Primig, research associate at the division "Digitalization and Participation" and his colleague Dr. Julia Lück-Benz (division "Media Analysis/ Research Methods") have published a new paper in Information, Communication and Society.
The paper is the first to conceptualize online monitoring activism (the continued systematic collection, processing, and publishing of information on adversary observable others online) as a new distinct form of individual digital activism that is facilitated by and expected in surveillance culture. Florian primig and Julia Lück-Benz analyze and discuss the normative implications of online monitoring activism, drawing attention to their contentious practices and activist identity oscillating between virtuous citizenship and vigilantism that reinforce the imperative of surveillance in the digital society. The paper is open access and can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2406817.