Amnesty accuses Argentina of growing surveillance

Amnesty International accused Argentine President Javier Milei's government of expanding surveillance of critics, saying databases of protesters, social media monitoring and facial recognition technology were stifling dissent.

In a report titled “Sensing the surveillance state,” Amnesty said the government implemented security and intelligence reforms and expanded its use of surveillance technologies between December 2023, when Milei took office, and December 2025.

Amnesty said the measures amounted to an intensification of state monitoring capacities aimed at controlling and deterring protest and increasing authoritarian practices.

The rights group said Argentina's national security ministry spent at least $1.2 million to acquire surveillance technologies between 2024 and 2025.

Milei's austerity measures have repeatedly triggered mass protests in Buenos Aires and other cities. Amnesty said journalists, activists, rights defenders and some retirees who demonstrate weekly for higher pensions and better healthcare access told the group they felt they were being watched.