The emerging scientific public sphere in China’s digital economy: Weibo discussions on facial recognition technology

The present study investigates the Chinese public’s perception toward the widely adopted (and often accused of misuse) technology of face recognition. Through topic modeling and a social network analysis of 151,654 Weibo posts, we examine the “content dimension” and the “actor dimension” of civic discussions on facial recognition technology. Our results demonstrate that there is rising social concern and skepticism directed at the commercial use of this biodata-collected technology in China’s cyberspace, despite the state’s adoption, supervision, and regulation of facial recognition technology being broadly granted. Moreover, while our findings illustrate an extent of openness and equality within the public debates on facial recognition technology, they also show the Chinese government becoming an important “interlocutor” within the said debates, with discursive engagement from industry and academia largely marginalized. Drawing on the results, we suggest that further investigation into the formation of China’s scientific public sphere should be located within the broader context of China’s vision of a centrally planned digital economy.