Digital Authoritarianism and Democratic Backsliding: The Political Economy of Exploitation Surveillance

The proposal examines the phenomenon of exploitation surveillance—the sociotechnical configurations enabling the deployment of spyware—and its systemic implications for democracy. It aims to develop an integrated theoretical framework that connects surveillance studies and democratic theory to explain how the adoption and normalization of spyware technologies contribute to democratic backsliding and the erosion of the public sphere. The study is structured around three complementary objectives: (a) conceptually, it develops a sociotechnical theory of exploitation surveillance; (b) empirically, it analyzes the expansion of spyware and its systemic impacts on the political realm, fundamental rights, and democratic institutions; and (c) normatively, it aims to propose a pathway for accountability of exploitation technologies.  The research addresses an increasingly urgent technopolitical context. Exploitation tools—built upon the stockpiling and weaponization of software and hardware vulnerabilities—have been used not only for intelligence and law enforcement but also for monitoring of politicians, journalists, and human rights defenders. Such practices blur the boundaries between domestic surveillance and cyberwarfare, giving rise to complex accountability gaps. In response, governments and civil society organizations across the globe—from El Salvador to Brazil, from Ruanda to the United States and Mexico—have advanced regulatory, judicial, and advocacy efforts. Regionally, the European Parliament’s PEGA Committee has initially investigated the use of spyware against European politicians, while internationally, initiatives such as the Pall Mall Process aim to address, specifically, the proliferation of commercial spyware globally. Theoretically, this research situates itself within the evolution of surveillance studies, from Foucault’s (1991) notion of disciplinary biopolitics to Deleuze’s (1993) societies of control and subsequent analyses of data-driven governance by Lyon (2003), Gandy (2021), Haggerty and Ericson (2000), Zuboff (2019), and Cohen (2018). Despite the establishment of the field, exploitation surveillance remains undertheorized, with most studies focusing solely on regulatory and legal dimensions (Kaye, 2021; Anstis, 2021; Herpig, 2018; Fidler, 2024). This project extends these contributions by framing spyware as a sociotechnical assemblage with distinct implications for democracy and state power. Drawing on Schappele’s (2018, 2024) argument that spyware has become the “weapon of choice” of regimes under a notion of “autocratic legalism,” the work examines how such technologies are also adopted within so-called democracies, revealing a global trend of democratic erosion. Anchored in the works of Fraser, Honneth, and Habermas, the proposal also connects exploitation surveillance to what are considered to be pillars of social justice—recognition, representation, and participation within the public sphere. It also draws on critical theory and privacy scholarship (Fuchs, 2015; Cinnamon, 2018; Taylor, 2017) to argue that systematic surveillance and data extraction operate as tools of domination, undermining both individual freedom and collective agency, posing a new set of challenges addressed as “data injustice." Ultimately, this project seeks to advance an interdisciplinary understanding of exploitation surveillance as both a technological and political phenomenon. By bridging empirical insights and normative theory, it contributes to rethinking accountability, governance, and digital rights in an era where surveillance infrastructures increasingly shape the future of democracy itself.