Using tech to fight back

However, while technology has been used by China as a tool of oppression, it can potentially be used to agitate for liberation and express dissent at China’s policies.

In 2019, videos of Uighurs started making their rounds on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. In these videos, Uighurs pose or cry in front of pictures of detained relatives while the mournful song “Donmek” — meaning “return” in Turkish — played. This was seen as a silent protest against China’s detention of Uighurs and a way for these Muslim minorities to connect with the outside world.

Later that year, American teenager Feroza Aziz raised awareness of the plight of Uighurs in Xinjiang through her viral TikTok “makeup tutorial”, which has since racked up 5.1 million views. To gain the attention of trend-obsessed users and to evade censorship by Chinese-owned TikTok, Aziz cleverly bookended her comments on Uighurs with tips on how to make eyelashes look longer.

Such instances of activism seem to be paying off, as seen from the increasingly unified pressure by the international community. Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States have all imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for the rights abuses in Xinjiang. Earlier this year, a coalition of more than 180 human rights organisations called for a boycott of Beijing’s 2022 Winter Olympics.

Returning the gaze of Big Brother

China’s deployment of surveillance in Xinjiang has shown that technology’s impact on our lives depends on the intentions of its users.

In the hands of an authoritarian police state, high-tech surveillance systems have enabled the repression of millions of people in Xinjiang. But in the hands of freedom fighters, social media has empowered them to reach multitudes outside the region, who are defiantly returning China’s steely gaze.