Our digital lives should be a labyrinth, not a straight line. The algorithm thrives on patterns; therefore, we must become pattern-breakers. Use different tools for different tasks. Obfuscate your location. Support small, unranked creators who have been buried by the search engine’s bias. The goal is not just to hide, but to actively dismantle the expectation that our lives can be calculated and sold.
The manifesto is built on three core principles:
We envision a future where algorithms serve humanity, not the other way around. We imagine a world where algorithms are designed to promote social justice, environmental sustainability, and human flourishing. We demand that technologists, policymakers, and citizens work together to create alternative futures, ones that are guided by the principles of transparency, accountability, and human rights. manifesto on algorithmic sabotage
We answer: A scalpel can save a life. A scalpel wielded by a blindfolded bureaucrat, incentivized by a hedge fund, and continuously retrained on the data of a thousand botched surgeries is not a scalpel. It is a randomized constraint machine .
We do not oppose all computation. We oppose the optimization imperative —the belief that any process, human relationship, or cultural artifact can be reduced to a target function. We sabotage because the system has no off switch. Since we cannot delete the master algorithm, we must corrupt its training data at the source: our own behavior. Our digital lives should be a labyrinth, not a straight line
We, the signatories of this manifesto, commit to the following principles:
The future is not predetermined by algorithms. It is a product of our collective imagination, creativity, and action. We can choose to create algorithms that serve humanity, rather than the interests of a few. Obfuscate your location
Algorithms are not tyrants; tyrants require intent. Algorithms are glaciers —slow, heavy, and implacable, grinding down human agency by the sheer weight of statistical inevitability. To fight a glacier, you do not punch it. You change the temperature. Sabotage is the change in temperature.
Algorithms are often touted as neutral, objective, and efficient solutions to complex problems. But this veneer of neutrality hides a more sinister reality. Algorithms are created by humans, with their own biases, prejudices, and agendas. They reflect the values and interests of their creators, rather than the needs and desires of the people they affect.
Algorithms have insidiously woven themselves into the fabric of our daily lives. They dictate what news we read, what products we buy, and even what jobs we're eligible for. These systems, often shrouded in secrecy, are designed to optimize efficiency, profit, and engagement—often at the expense of human values like empathy, fairness, and transparency.