Cyber dating abuse or proof of love? The use of apps for surveillance and control in affective-sexual relations.

Contemporary digital culture is marked by intermingling borders between the public and private spheres, urging internauts to be both controllers and controlled. The article analyzes the discursive productions on surveillance and control of partners by online tools provided by the Android and iOS systems, available as cellphone apps. The authors use critical discourse analysis to examine and interpret text messages from 40 Android and iOS apps used to monitor and control intimate partners. We identified two blocks with two distinct (but not mutually exclusive) discursive meanings: control/monitoring and care/protection. The texts' enunciative force is based on a promise of total and unlimited control with the purpose of ensuring "peace of mind", "safety/security", and "harmony" in the intimate relationship. Such surveillance uses rhetorical arguments that refer to "proof of love", "care", and "protection" as justifications for monitoring and controlling the other.