Ethical challenges that technology can present include challenges to political freedoms and acts of resistance. What are our moral obligations regarding this? 

On October 23, the Center for Ethics Education at Fordham University presented “Technology & the Power of Resistance,” a talk featuring Dr. Mathias Klang, Professor of Media & Communications at Fordham University, and Dr. Mark Satta, Professor of Philosophy at Wayne State University. In response to the rapid increase in technological innovation and its impact on society and institutions, Dr. Satta and Dr. Klang discussed their research on the intersection of power and resistance, as well as our moral obligations as epistemic agents. 

Social epistemology is an enterprise concerned with how people should approach the task of determining what is true in the face of relevant social practices and institutions. This field is grounded in the complex, relational reality of individuals in society. We are not isolated. We exist in a society, in structures, and within frameworks— all of which should help us find the truth. Dr. Mark Satta emphasizes that society both helps and hinders the normative, prescriptive project of truth-seeking. Ultimately, it is up to us to reflect on and critically assess their social practices, particularly truth-telling and belief formation. Who do we trust? What do we trust? Who and what gets our attention? 

The field of social epistemology pays close attention to technology, underscoring the reality that technology is a crucial medium for establishing trust and verifying the intentions of those around us. Intertwined here is power. Dr. Satta coined the term “epistemic exhaustion,” which refers to the fatigue, generally cognitive fatigue, generated by efforts to retain, determine, or communicate what one believes under conditions that make doing so especially taxing. Epistemic exhaustion can be intentionally created through the modes of controlling and gaslighting by powerful actors, making political change more difficult. Truth-telling— it takes effort. Flooding the system, controlling the algorithms, and buying ads make it incredibly difficult for the moral agent to distinguish between what is true and what is false. One must recognize that this enterprise might be inherently futile and become disengaged. The consequences here are significant because the stakes are so high. On the other hand, the moral agency may overextend themself to the point of exhaustion, attempting to thoughtfully process this flood of claims, accessing the information to back up the facts. The problem here is power. The politically powerful have enormous control over technology and, therefore, the ability to shape the epistemic environments.

Dr. Matias Klang begins with the French historian Michael Foucault’s quote: “Where there is power, there is resistance.” Dr. Klang describes his research in accordance with Dr. Satta’s observations in the field of epistemology. Where technology exists, actors are controlling the landscape. In these public spaces, there is regulation without democracy, as moves are made to preempt something, some action or norm that becomes the default. This decision comes about without consulting anyone else. It is imperative to examine examples where the individual is attempting to circumvent a system not intended for them. These are the points of resistance, the places where people are intentionally disrupting the algorithm to achieve something else. Effectively shape the landscape for themselves, rather than letting the politically powerful do it for them. Dr. Klang provides examples of facial recognition, algorithmic speech, and “mouse jiggler,” points that may not be so successful in the long run, but are fascinating accounts of resistance to the status quo that should be analyzed, admired, and replicated. 

As Dr. Klang and Dr. Satta remind us, resistance and truth-seeking are linked as moral acts in the technological age. In a landscape shaped by those who hold concurrent power and influence, resistance is not only political but epistemic. It is up to us to rethink the enterprise of truth-telling— to recognize how we are influenced by our political structures and how, in return, we might aspire to shape them.

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