Universities Used Pro-Palestine Protests To Expand Surveillance

New technology and support from law enforcement and federal agencies allows universities to monitor student activists like never before.

By Sophie Hayssen, Prism

In the aftermath of pro-Palestinian encampments last year, colleges across the country announced new policies that effectively ban many forms of protest. In addition to chilling dissent, the new university rules also allow for campus surveillance and overreach by law enforcement.

As part of the new policies, some universities outright ban encampments, while others place restrictions on the time, place, and shape protests can take. In some cases, schools made it more difficult for students to conceal their identity during protests by banning masks or requiring student groups to register protests. Students say the new policies are alarming, especially when coupled with the surveillance utilized by universities. This includes closed-circuit television (CCTV), facial recognition, and video analytics that can track individuals.

University of Texas students protest Israel's war in Gaza and the arrest of students at a demonstration the previous day at a rally on campus.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation noted that the proliferation of surveillance technology and an increase in law enforcement on campus may require students to make difficult choices to avoid doxxing and other forms of retribution for merely exposing their faces at a campus protest.

“The more rules you create that make something illegal, the more reasons the government has to survey, get warrants, knock on doors,” said Xavier T. de Janon, the director of mass defense at the National Lawyers Guild.