Protests in the information age: Panopticon, synopticon, and other ways of seeing and being seen

Information and communication technologies have fostered the existence of large public demonstrations in the current techno-scientific and informational period, while at the same time they have often served to monitor activists’ activities and to curtail the actions of certain citizens. Such scenario of intensive surveillance has been represented by metaphors like big brother and the panopticon. However, these metaphors on their own cannot explain the complexities of the current surveillance society. While the panopticon model represents the surveillance of “the many” by “one”, today there are many situations where “the many” watch “one”, or even, “the many” watch “the many”. The Orwellian model is incomplete as it centres the surveillance focus in the hands of the state, whereas other actors like companies and individuals play crucial roles in the current surveillance realm. Recent protests in Brazil show several examples in which the surveillance promoted by hegemonic agents is being countered not only by counter-surveillance practices but also by a growing synoptic visibility.