Filter
277
Featured
163
5
1
Topics
69
61
47
33
22
19
14
14
12
11
11
11
10
10
9
8
8
8
8
8
8
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
6
6
6
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Language
Document type
48
13
11
3
2
1
1
1
Countries / Regions
Authors & Publishers
Media focus
Publication Years
Methods applied
Journals
Output Type
Social Media Activism for Civilian Supremacy in Myanmar and Pakistan
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2023), 14 pp.
"In Myanmar and Pakistan, anti-democratic forces including an alliance of military and right-wing political factions are dominating political affairs despite both countries’ constitutions defining democratic processes. Consequently, the authoritarian rule has been looming in these countries. The a
...
Dictatorship and Information: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China
New York: Oxford University Press (2023), xix, 470 pp.
"This study offers a systematic theory of the institutional solutions to the dictator’s dilemma, which arises from the incapacity to calibrate repression and concessions due to the lack of information about elite and popular discontent. Empirically, the book presents a detailed discussion of the t
...
Media and power in modern Iran: Mass communication, ideology, and the state
London: Tauris (2023), x, 222 pp.
"Successive Iranian leaders have struggled to navigate the fraught political-cultural space of media in the Islamic Republic-skirting the line between embracing Western communications technologies and rejecting them, between condemning social networking sites as foreign treachery and promoting thems
...
Journalistic practices in restrictive contexts: A sociological approach to the case of Iran
London; New York: Routledge (2023), 131 pp.
"Based on fieldwork conducted in Iran, this book discusses how it is possible for journalism to exist and function in a restrictive context. The book brings together a range of structural (macro), organizational (meso), and individual (micro) processes to analyse journalistic practice in a political
...
The Unfreedom Monitor: Kenya Country Report
Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2023), 21 pp.
"This report provides an overview of the most prolific instances of digital authoritarianism in Kenya. The report will debrief the most relevant actions and decisions taken by the Kenyan government in recent years that leverage the internet and technology in order to achieve certain political goals.
...
‘Keeping news alive in Venezuela’: Using social media as tactical media
Global Media and Communication, volume 19, issue 1 (2023), pp. 101-117
"Venezuela leads Latin America with the largest number of imprisoned journalists and extreme government-led media censorship. Our in-depth interviews with 25 Venezuelan journalists reveal that assisting journalists to combat government control are social media and technology platforms like WhatsApp,
...
The Life and Death of SNET, Havana’s Alternative Internet
Rest of World, October 8 (2023)
"[...] in 2011, a group of more than 100 Havana residents decided to unify their hyperlocal networks into a larger structure. The Havana “street network” (or SNET) would soon become one of the largest such community networks in the world. At its peak, user estimates hovered around 100,000 IP add
...
Digital Authoritarianism and its Religious Legitimization: The cases of Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and India
Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan (2023), xv, 174 pp.
"This book explores how digital authoritarianism operates in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and how religion can be used to legitimize digital authoritarianism within democracies. In doing so, it explains how digital authoritarianism operates at various technological levels includ
...
Preparing to Publish: How Journalists Negotiate Content Restrictions in Semi-Authoritarian States
International Communication Gazette, volume 85, issue 2 (2023), pp. 120-140
"Journalists act strategically in response to their political environments, using practices like self-censorship to avoid negative repercussions from powerful actors. But what does self-censorship look like in practice? Grounded in theories of policy response and media sociology, this study uses jou
...
Kleptocratic Cooperation in Africa: How Russia and China Undermine Democracy
Washington, DC: National Endowment for Democracy (NED) (2023), 17 pp.
"The two essays in this report highlight ways in which two global authoritarian powers, Russia and China, provide surge capacity to kleptocratic networks in Africa. In his essay J.R. Mailey dissects the Wagner Group’s illicit activities in key parts of Africa. The Wagner Group’s activities are c
...
A Light That Cannot Be Extinguished: Exiled Journalism and Transnational Repression
Washington, DC: Freedom House (2023), 18 pp.
"1. Increasing attacks on independent media globally are forcing journalists to flee their home countries. Working from abroad, these reporters remain crucial sources of information about some of the world’s most authoritarian countries. But safety in exile is not guaranteed.
2. At least 26 govern
...
YouTube vlogging and dissidence in Zimbabwe: Opportunities from authoritarian media policies
Journal of Alternative and Community Media, volume 7, issue 2 (2023), pp. 199-214
"This article explores the use of YouTube in the increasing practice of vlogging in Zimbabwe. Vlogging counters authoritarian media policies that restrict the entry of new media players and democratic participation in existing traditional media. This dearth of public debate on traditional media has
...
Die russische Medienlandschaft: Propaganda und Exil
Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb), 14. Juni (2023)
"Ein Überblick über die russische Medienlandschaft und wie sie sich seit dem Beginn des russischenAngriffskriegs auf die gesamte Ukraine verändert hat – in zehn Fragen und Antworten." (Einführung)
Russia's Vigilante YouTube Stars: Digital Entrepreneurship and Heroic Masculinity in the Service of Flexible Authoritarianism
Europe-Asia Studies, volume 74, issue 7 (2022), pp. 1166-1189
"Combating illegal parking and drinking in public is the raison d’être of Russia’s best-known law-and-order youth initiatives, StopKham and Lev Protiv. These initiatives enforce and promote neotraditional morals amongst young people by challenging alleged offenders on camera and uploading the e
...
Iranians on #SocialMedia
Washington, DC: Atlantic Council (2022), 40 pp.
"This report explores the social media habits of Iranian netizens and how the Islamic Republic is repressing the online space." (Publisher description)
The Unfreedom Monitor: Russia Country Report
Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2022), 28 pp.
"The internet gained centrality as a space of public opinion and political activity that became important for the Russian state to co-opt and control as part of the broader push for control of political elites and public perceptions as Putin and his ruling party pushed to eliminate any functioning o
...
The Unfreedom Monitor: Turkey Country Report
Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2022), 27 pp.
"Since its ascent to power twenty years ago, the ruling AKP has tightened the screws on all forms of freedom of expression, both online and offline. It has introduced draconian laws, imposed internet restrictions, blocked content, and has arrested and intimidated critics on an unprecedented level. I
...
