Drawing inspiration from the Luddites of the Industrial Revolution, the ASRG advocates for "sabotage" not necessarily as physical destruction, but as a tactical injection of noise into the data stream. By making oneself "uncomputable," the individual regains a degree of autonomy that the frictionless digital world seeks to eliminate. Tactics of Resistance The group’s research typically spans three main areas:
The ASRG argues that this is a form of soft violence. The user is no longer a subject but an object to be sorted. The "black box" nature of these systems means that recourse is often impossible—one cannot appeal to a line of code. In this context, the ASRG identifies a vacuum of resistance. Where traditional activism might seek policy change, the scale and speed of algorithmic deployment often outpace legislation. The ASRG proposes a different approach: direct intervention at the code level. algorithmic sabotage research group asrg
: Disseminating theories of resistance that stem from a desire for liberation from unrestrained technosolutionism. Material and Ecological Impacts Drawing inspiration from the Luddites of the Industrial
The ASRG distinguishes itself by turning high-level theory into "praxis"—the practical application of ideas. They facilitate collaborative tools and workshops designed to help people "get their hands into the guts of systems". This "practice-led" research might involve scrambling image data to evade facial recognition or developing tactics for "techno-disobedience" that allow communities to reclaim digital spaces. The user is no longer a subject but an object to be sorted
In an era where efficiency is the ultimate virtue and algorithms are the invisible managers of daily life, the represents a radical counter-movement. Rather than seeking to "fix" or "optimize" automated systems, the ASRG explores how to disrupt, confuse, and ultimately reclaim agency from them. Their work shifts the conversation from algorithmic bias to algorithmic resistance. The Philosophy of the Spanner in the Works