Soft digital repression

How digital technology ensures the continuation of capitalist hegemony


28/09/2025

Photo: Level Agency

During the recent assault on Gaza, thousands of activists were shocked to find their posts deleted or their accounts restricted simply because they documented the crimes of the Israeli occupation. Many felt powerless and angry, as if their voices were being deliberately silenced. This was not a coincidence or a technical glitch, but a vivid example of what can today be called “soft digital repression.” It is a form of repression that does not necessarily appear as direct bans or visible arrests. Instead it seeps in through invisible algorithms and all-encompassing digital technologies, to reshape  the digital sphere to continue  capitalist hegemony. This raises the question: how does this system work, and how can it be challenged?

Soft digital repression is a system of policies and technical tools that restrict freedom of expression and control the digital sphere by major corporations and powerful states. But in ways that appear neutral and non-confrontational. Instead of open censorship, explicit prohibition, or obvious repressive measures, it relies on gradual concealment techniques. It creates  an environment in which individuals are subject to hidden surveillance—and sometimes even censor themselves.

The term “artificial intelligence” is often used in this context. Yet many practices—such as filter bubbles or the downranking of content—are not necessarily AI in the narrow sense. They are a part of a broader system of digital technologies and algorithms harnessed to serve capital.

How Hidden Censorship Operates: Digital Control and Voluntary Self-Surveillance

Imagine that everything you do in your digital life is monitored: your movements through your phone, private meetings, even your personal messages. This is not science fiction. Major tech corporations, cooperate  with dominant states now. They systematically collect such data to categorize users according to their behavioral patterns and political or ideological leanings. Platforms are  central tools for monitoring tendencies and containing them—whether through disinformation campaigns or by shrinking reach and influence.

It does not stop there. Thanks to carefully designed algorithms, access to leftist and progressive political content is restricted without being deleted. It appears as though only a weak interaction results from audience disinterest.  In fact it is the intentional outcome of reduced visibility. Many have felt this: you write a post, and it reaches no one. Numerous studies have addressed the “filter bubble,” which isolates individuals from alternative content. For example, Facebook leaks, revealed the company deliberately reduced the reach of certain political or rights-based movements, while claiming neutrality.

Over time, many practice what can be called “voluntary self-surveillance”. This is self-censoring out of fear of bans, account closures, or declining reach. This fear changes the very nature of discourse, turning the digital sphere into a pre-shaped space that serves capitalist interests.

Digital Frustration

But repression is not limited to restricting content. There is another weapon, less visible and more effective: digital frustration. Through a constant stream of curated content, algorithms foster a general sense of helplessness and resignation,especially among leftist and progressive communities. Suddenly you are surrounded by messages that socialist experiments have failed and that resistance is futile. Meanwhile, capitalism is highlighted as an eternal force that cannot be defeated.

At the same time, individualism and personal success solutions—from self-improvement to consumption—are promoted as “realistic” alternatives to collective political action. In this way, people are isolated from one another and transformed into consumers rather than activists. This is not an accidental choice, but a deliberate class strategy to undermine the possibility of radical socialist change.

Digital Arrests and Digital Assassination

When censorship or frustration proves insufficient, the system escalates to a more dangerous level: digital arrests. eople suddenly find their accounts suspended for long periods, shadow-banned, or permanently shut down without warning. This is usually justified under pretexts like “violating community standards” or “promoting violence.” Censored content may only have documented capitalist crimes or human rights violations.

In many cases, repression reaches what can be described as “digital assassination”. That is the complete erasure of the digital presence of individuals or organizations. Labor movements, leftist organizations, independent media outlets, and human rights groups have seen their websites closed, archives deleted, or accounts disabled. The most striking example is the targeting of Palestinian content. Hundreds of accounts and posts documenting occupation crimes were deleted, while hate speech and Israeli right-wing propaganda were allowed to continue. This h shifts the digital sphere from a space of free expression to a meticulously monitored arena. One where capital decides what may surface and what must be buried.

What Can Be Done? Leftist and Progressive Alternatives

In the face of this, if soft digital repression seeks to suffocate resistance, the alternative must be to redefine technology itself as a tool of liberation. This can only happen through progressive leftist initiatives that push for transparency, democratic oversight, and strict laws. These laws should criminalize political surveillance and ban the use of algorithms and digital technologies to curtail freedoms.

But it is not only a matter of legislation. We need  to also build cross-border solidarity networks to expose violations and put pressure on capitalist corporations. Non-expert users can take part by boycotting companies that sell surveillance technologies to authoritarian regimes, and placing them on blacklists. Instead open-source software and systems managed by independent bodies should be supported. They should include civil society representatives with  collective oversight, and aim to expose violations and monitor governments, not to surveil citizens.

It is equally important for leftist organizations to develop their own tools. These should range  from encryption technologies and privacy protection to awareness campaigns. They must reveal the hidden workings of algorithms. The struggle here is not merely technical, but is inherently political. Confronting digital capitalism is part of the class struggle itself. It  continues the battles once fought only in factories, farms, and offices, and now extend to the digital sphere.

The example of digital repression against Palestinian content in particular, illustrates the scale of the problem. he most important lesson is that we must develop alternatives which are possible. Transforming digital technology into a tool of liberation, and linking it to a progressive leftist political project, can open new spaces for resistance. The internet was not created to be only a consumer marketplace, it can also be a site of collective internationalist struggle. But this will only be realized if we connect the digital battle to the wider struggle against capitalism and its class hegemony, and restore humanity to the center of digital decision-making.

Further Reading