These theoretical frameworks are often distributed via radical graphic design projects. A notable example is , a physical and digital zine built explicitly for ASRG using avant-garde design principles like the Alternative Layout System . By pairing open-source typefaces with scaling analytical statements, the collective bridges the gap between academic theory, visual design, and real-world activist intervention. The Broader Digital Ecosystem The Algorithmic Resistance Research Group (ARRG!)
The Digital Spanner: Unpacking the Philosophy and Tactics of the Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG)
While the ASRG exists as a distinct theoretical framework and research node, it operates within a larger network of similar initiatives (such as the Data & Society Research Institute or projects led by scholars like Kate Crawford). The term "ASRG" specifically highlights the tactical convergence of art, hacking, and political activism.
platform, this project page documents their practice-led research, focusing on themes like intersectionality, speculative gestures, and community struggle. ASRG Official Website (GitHub) algorithmic sabotage research group %28asrg%29
: Identifying aggressive AI web-scraping bots and trapping them in a "tarpit"—a web directory designed to load websites at a near-frozen pace. This forces scraping bots to waste massive amounts of computational time and expensive processing power on useless garbage data.
Dynamic infinite-loop response pages, artificial delay scripts, and junk-data injection.
: Developing methods to protect websites from generative AI crawlers, such as "tarpitting" (slowing down crawlers for aeons of compute time) or serving them garbage data to pollute training sets. ASRG Official Website (GitHub) : Identifying aggressive AI
Tonight, Elara was staring at their magnum opus: , a healthcare triage algorithm used by a consortium of private insurers across three continents.
She stood in the humming core of the ASRG’s subterranean lab, a repurposed cold-war bunker beneath the neutral ground of Bern. On the wall, a single phrase was stenciled in faded gray: Fiat justitia ruat caelum — Let justice be done, though the heavens fall.
: Utilizing radical feminist, anti-fascist, and decolonial perspectives to prioritize mutual aid and collective care. Key Concepts Algorithmic Sabotage On the wall
In their , the group outlines 10 principles (numbered 0 to 9) that emphasize:
: Sabotage is not seen as a luddite hatred of technology, but as a "counter-intelligence" against fascist techno-solutionism and structural injustice. Mutual Aid & Solidarity
The General in charge slid a folder across the table. “Dr. Vance. We need you to sabotage our own algorithm. Before it does something we can’t take back.”