Prediction, preemption and limits to dissent: social media and big data uses for policing protests in the UK

Dencik, Lina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1982-0901, Hintz, Arne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9902-4736 and Carey, Zoe 2017. Prediction, preemption and limits to dissent: social media and big data uses for policing protests in the UK. New Media & Society 20 (4) , pp. 1433-1450. 10.1177/1461444817697722

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Abstract

Social media and big data uses form part of a broader shift from ‘reactive’ to ‘proactive’ forms of governance in which state bodies engage in analysis to predict, pre-empt and respond in real time to a range of social problems. Drawing on research with British police, we contextualize these algorithmic processes within actual police practices, focusing on protest policing. Although aspects of algorithmic decision-making have become prominent in police practice, our research shows that they are embedded within a continuous human–computer negotiation that incorporates a rooted claim to ‘professional judgement’, an integrated intelligence context and a significant level of discretion. This context, we argue, transforms conceptions of threats. We focus particularly on three challenges: the inclusion of pre-existing biases and agendas, the prominence of marketing-driven software, and the interpretation of unpredictability. Such a contextualized analysis of data uses provides important insights for the shifting terrain of possibilities for dissent.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Journalism, Media and Culture
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Big data, dissent, predictive policing, protest, social media
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	1461-7315
Funders:	Media Democracy Fund, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	31 May 2017
Date of Acceptance:	13 February 2017
Last Modified:	03 May 2023 11:39
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/99751

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