Preface
Algorithmic systems shape social life, concentrate power, and embed goals chosen by designers and owners. When those goals harm communities, obscure truth, or enable exploitation, intervention may be necessary. This manifesto argues that targeted, transparent, and ethical algorithmic sabotage — deliberate actions to disrupt, slow, or redirect harmful automated systems — can be a legitimate tactic for reclaiming agency, protecting rights, and advancing public goods. It sets principles, tactics, and guardrails for responsible action.
If the system can categorize you, it can control you. Be the outlier. Be the "Null Value." Champion the Random: manifesto on algorithmic sabotage
If an algorithm serves the human, feed it gold. If an algorithm enslaves the human, feed it slag. "Ghost Work" by Mary L
To resist the perceived "inevitability" of harmful technology. Connection to Neo-Luddism : Similar to Neo-Luddite perspectives If the system can categorize you, it can control you
Use tools that mask your digital footprint not by hiding, but by drowning it in a sea of false positives [3]. Semantic Drift:
Do not try to fix the algorithm.
Make the algorithm afraid of you.
: The manifesto frames sabotage as a necessary defense of communal constraints on harmful technology, aiming to bridge the segregation between those "above" and "below" the algorithm. Context and Influence : The document emerged from the Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group