A University of the Philippines-Diliman study found that democratic nations make more data requests to Facebook than authoritarian governments.
The research examined Facebook transparency reports from 176 countries spanning 2013 to 2023. It identified a pattern called the democratic surveillance paradox, where governments expected to protect rights instead increase surveillance.
Rogelio Alicor Panao of the Department of Political Science noted that many requests occur during emergencies and bypass standard legal processes. Democracies justify these actions as necessary for national security or public safety.
Panao stated that even nations with strong institutions sidestep privacy safeguards through emergency powers. The study was published in the Democratization journal.