More Surveillance Won’t Solve Right-Wing Extremism

The storming of the Capitol has prompted security experts to offer some predictable advice: Double down on surveillance, by sharing more information among federal and local law enforcement agencies about potentially dangerous people. I’d be all for this if I thought it had much chance of making inroads against right-wing extremists. As things stand, it’s more likely to compound the suffering already inflicted upon immigrants and minorities.

I’ll admit that my grasp of how law enforcement collects and shares data is far from comprehensive. That said, based on what I’ve seen in my work as an expert on big data and algorithms, I can say that they certainly haven’t been focused on the strange concoction of conspiracy theorists, White supremacists and gun enthusiasts who descended upon the U.S. seat of government. Their sights have been trained on foreigners and poor people of color, who as a result will invariably feature in whatever information they have.