The Chilling Effects of Digital Dataveillance: A Theoretical Model and an Empirical Research Agenda

Abstract

People's sense of being subject to digital dataveillance can cause them to restrict their digital communication behavior. Such a chilling effect is essentially a form of self-censorship in everyday digital media use with the attendant risks of undermining individual autonomy and well-being. This article combines the existing theoretical and limited empirical work on surveillance and chilling effects across fields with an analysis of novel data toward a research agenda. The institutional practice of dataveillance—the automated, continuous, and unspecific collection, retention, and analysis of digital traces—affects individual behavior. A mechanism-based causal model based on the theory of planned behavior is proposed for the micro level: An individual's increased sense of dataveillance causes their subjective probability assigned to negative outcomes of digital communication behavior to increase and attitudes toward this communication to become less favorable, ultimately decreasing the intention to engage in it. In aggregate and triggered through successive salience shocks such as data scandals, dataveillance is accordingly hypothesized to lower the baseline of free digital communication in a society through the chilling effects mechanism. From the developed theoretical model, a set of methodological consequences and questions for future studies are derived.

Framing Social Credit System: An Experimental Investigation of Social Credit System’s Chilling Effect on Freedom of Expression

“…Particularly, the punishment system featuring in SCS refrains people from opinion expression and may even inhibit lawful activities such as free speech. This undercuts the restricting role of SCS in suppressing online opinion expression, societal participation, or political advocacy, and systematic monitoring of data may provoke a diffuse sense of being constantly watched, potentially discouraging people from engaging in even socially desirable behavior (Büchi et al, 2022).…”

“…Self-censorship refers to a tendency for communication apprehension motivated by the perception of a hostile climate of opinion (Hayes, et al, 2005). A chilling effect is inherently a form of self-censorship (Büchi, et al, 2022) and individuals who consider they are under surveillance may preemptively self-inhibit free speech (White & Zimbardo, 1975). Based upon the evidence of how chilling effects may promote inhibition and conformity by encouraging individuals to be cautious while engaging in certain activities online (Penny, 2017), the study proposes the following hypothesis: H3: Willingness to self-censor moderates the relationship between exposure to SCS frames on cautiousness of opinion expression.…”

The validation of the Perceived Surveillance Scale

“…For example, internet users report changing their online behavior (e.g., not visiting certain websites) when they know their data are being collected; McDonald & Cranor, 2010). This phenomenon of refraining from consuming certain media (e.g., not browsing internet pages, not watching TV shows) due to perceived surveillance is known as a 'chilling effect' and has been identified as an ethical side effect of surveillance (Büchi et al, 2020(Büchi et al, , 2022Finn & Wadhwa, 2014;Manokha, 2018;Solove, 2006). Moreover, because personalized communication's effectiveness depends on the quality of the data collected (e.g., people's actual preferences; Strycharz et al, 2019a), self-surveillance practices could lower the quality of communication messages.…”

Organização do Conhecimento e suas contribuições em um contexto Big Data

“…Pode-se ainda elencar a vigilância de dados como mais um fator complexo no contexto Big Data, já que a coleta e análise automática dos dados podem interferir na privacidade dos cidadãos e até mesmo inibir sua liberdade de expressão nos meios virtuais. Partindo dessas explanações, as discussões sociais e éticas, nesse cenário intenso de dados, tornam-se necessárias e a Organização do Conhecimento, com sua diretriz social, possui características para contribuir com essa realidade (Davis;Williams;Yang, 2021;Törnberg;Uitermark, 2021;Büchi;Festic;Latzer, 2022).…”