To protect creators who host their own platforms, ASRG tracks and collects infrastructure-level defense mechanisms.
: Rather than looking back at history with an atavistic desire to destroy technology, the group embraces a proactive, forward-looking stance. It treats digital intervention as a legitimate tool for social justice and egalitarianism.
For researchers and engineers:
Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group - Our Collaborative Tools
One of the ASRG’s most high-profile and successful projects is a sophisticated digital tarpit designed to lure and ensnare aggressive web crawlers. In just under a month of operation, this project received over 26 million requests from AI crawlers. The tarpit, which currently operates at https://content.asrg.site/ , is designed to seem like a legitimate source of data, but its content is either meaningless or deliberately poisoned. The ultimate goal is to “feed aggressive web crawlers junk,” draining their resources and filling their training sets with garbage. algorithmic sabotage research group %28asrg%29
The is a decentralized, "conspiratorial," and practice-led research initiative that explores the intersection of digital culture , information technology , and political resistance .
The Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG) studies how algorithms can be subverted, manipulated, or weaponized—intentionally or inadvertently—to cause harm to systems, users, and societies. ASRG’s work sits at the intersection of security, AI ethics, adversarial machine learning, and socio-technical policy. This post outlines ASRG’s core focus, research directions, real-world relevance, ethical considerations, and recommended actions for practitioners and policymakers.
The core argument of the manifesto is that traditional technology critique is insufficient and often absent from the real struggle against the "algorithmic empire". It rejects any atavistic aversion to technology, instead framing algorithmic sabotage as a form of counter-power that emerges from the strength of the community that wields it. The manifesto also positions the act of sabotage as an action-oriented commitment to solidarity, one that precedes and rejects any system of social, legal, or algorithmic classification. It is a call to arms against "algorithmic humiliation for power and profit maximisation," focusing instead on activities of mutual aid and solidarity.
Unlike traditional cybersecurity groups focused on penetration testing, the ASRG approaches technology from a sociological and critical theory perspective, viewing algorithms as sites of political struggle. To protect creators who host their own platforms,
The most sophisticated pillar deals not with perception but with strategy. When multiple AIs interact (e.g., high-frequency trading bots, rival logistics algorithms, or autonomous weapons), they reach a Nash equilibrium—a state where no single algorithm can improve its outcome by changing strategy alone.
The group's mission is rooted in the belief that the first step of technology is political, not technical. Their work centers on: Dismantling Necropolitical Tech
The acronym is common in the tech and security space. You may also be interested in: Drop #17. Manifesto On Algorithmic Sabotage
The ASRG organizes its work into four distinct research pillars: The ultimate goal is to “feed aggressive web
To understand the ASRG, one must understand the vacuum it filled. Prior to its founding in 2019 (by a coalition of former intelligence analysts and academic logicians), the tech industry had robust teams for "security" (preventing external breaches) and "quality assurance" (catching random bugs). However, no one was systematically looking for intentional malice baked into the logic layer.
The ASRG is deliberately decentralized and conspiratorial, making it difficult to identify specific leaders or members. They operate through a federated network, publishing their findings on platforms like GitLab, Mastodon, and GitHub, and engaging with the public through workshops and online forums.
For those who want to learn more, the ASRG’s public reading room offers declassified case studies and a plain-language guide to spotting algorithmic sabotage in daily life. In a world increasingly run by machines, knowing who is pulling the levers—and who is trying to break them—is the first step toward taking back control.