Data & Politics
The Problem
Social media and digital organizing tools have transformed how young people mobilize, yet the same platforms amplify extremism, harvest data, and suppress dissent. Governments and corporations increasingly use digital surveillance to monitor, intimidate, and dismantle youth-led movements before they gain momentum.
Our Strategy
We document and analyze how digital tools are weaponized against youth organizers by mapping surveillance tactics, platform censorship patterns, and state-sponsored harassment campaigns.
Our findings support activists with practical counter-surveillance resources and open-source tools for safer organizing. In parallel, we work with civil society groups and policymakers to push for platform accountability and legal protections for youth-led movements.
Ongoing Projects
Political Microtargeting Exposed
Leaked ad datasets show how voter segments are built from everyday app data.
The Voter Data Brokers
A hidden industry trades electoral rolls, consumer files, and location histories.
Election Night Data Wars
Competing narratives over turnout numbers can destabilize results before counts finish.
When Campaigns Buy Your Profile
Consent forms hide how political firms repackage commercial data for influence ops.