The Persistence of Resistance: Rekindling agency and reimagining alternative media in the algorithmic age

Public Seminar with Emiliano Treré

Photo: Sara Kurfeß, Unsplash

Algorithms increasingly shape the contours of our everyday lives, from work and culture to politics. While platform power is often portrayed as inevitable and monolithic, Algorithms of resistance reveals how individuals and groups creatively resist and reconfigure algorithmic systems to reclaim agency. Drawing on rich ethnographic research from both the Global North and South, this talk explores how gig workers, cultural producers, and activists develop inventive tactics to appropriate and subvert the same algorithmic systems that control their lives. Central to this analysis is the tension between two competing moral economies: the platform moral economy, driven by profit and control, and the user moral economy, grounded in fairness and collective autonomy. The talk exposes how algorithmic resistance is both mundane and strategic, as individuals and collectives navigate and challenge the constraints imposed by algorithmic power.

At the same time, the rise of generative AI and the growing phenomenon of infrastructure capture - exemplified by Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and the increasing consolidation of media platforms - introduce new complexities and risks. The monopolization of communication infrastructures by a handful of powerful actors is narrowing the spaces where resistance can emerge, making it harder for activists and media producers to bypass algorithmic control or exploit platform loopholes. AI-generated propaganda and automated content further blur the boundaries between human and machine communication, complicating the already fraught relationship between visibility and control.

This shift signals a new phase in algorithmic and digital activism, one where the traditional tactics of alternative media and resistance are being redefined. While independent and alternative media still exist, their ability to navigate and challenge mainstream platforms is diminishing as the architecture of digital communication becomes more centralized and resistant to manipulation. This talk will examine how the shrinking margins for resistance are forcing activists and alternative media producers to adopt more creative and strategic forms of subversion, offering insights into emerging tactics for reclaiming agency and solidarity in the algorithmic age.

This event is open to all and free to attend. Register here to secure your seat.

 

Emiliano Treré, Beatriz Galindo Distinguished Professor, the University of Valencia, Spain & School of Journalism, Media, and Culture, Cardiff University,  UK

Emiliano Treré is a Beatriz Galindo Distinguished Professor in the Department of Language Theory and Communication Sciences at the University of Valencia (Spain), where he leads the RedON (Reimagining Digital Activism, Overtourism, and Nomadism on a Burning Planet) project. He is also a Reader in Data Agency and Media Ecologies at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media, and Culture (currently on career break). An internationally recognized scholar with over two decades of experience, Treré is a leading authority on digital activism, critical data studies, algorithm studies, and digital disconnection, with a focus on the Global South. Fluent in three languages, he has authored five books and over 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals, spanning seven languages. He has secured multiple research grants and received numerous awards, including the ICA’s Outstanding Book Award and Honorable Mention from the Activism, Communication, and Social Justice Interest Group, as well as the MeCCSA Outstanding Achievement Award for Article of the Year.