Internet Penetration and Political Protest: The Global and Regional Politics of Internet Use and Regulation Jaclyn A. Kerr [email protected] Center for New Media and Society, NES September 18, 2013
Oct 27, 2015
Internet Penetration and Political Protest:The Global and Regional Politics of
Internet Use and Regulation
Jaclyn A. [email protected]
Center for New Media and Society, NES
September 18, 2013
Research Questions:
Why has growing Internet use coincided with the development of powerful protest movements in some states but not in others?
What explains why some countries have tightly restricted Internet use while others have let it freely develop?
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“Liberation Technologies”?
Russian Blogosphere MapBerkman Center, 2011
Map of Election ViolationsGOLOS, March 4, 2012
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ICTs in Civic & Political Engagement
Variety of Affordances & Mechanisms
• Groups & Association
• Media & Public Discourse
• IT & Social Entrepreneurship
• Activism & Protest Mobilization
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Political Context Matters
•Regime type
•Internet regulation
•Relationship of online & offline freedoms
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Political Context MattersPolitical Context Matters
Internet used differently in different settings!
State Internet Regulation
“The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.”
– Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) co-founder John Gilmore, 1993
“[T]here are now a wide variety of technical and nontechnical means at [governments’] disposal to shape and limit the online flow of information.”
– Ronald Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski, 2010
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Restrictive Internet & ICT Policies
“First Generation”
• Site Blocking
• Keyword Filtering
• Manual Content Censorship
• Complete Cellular or Internet Network Shutdowns
• Network Traffic Slowdowns
• “Walled Garden” Intranets
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“Next Generation”
• Restrictive Legal Measures
• Informal Take-Down Requests
• Regulation of Private Companies
• Just-In-Time Blocking / DDoS Attacks
• Patriotic Hacking / Trolling / Blogging
• Targeted Surveillance
• Physical / Legal Attacks
“Digital Dictator’s Dilemma”
Why have Internet and information technology policy choices differed so markedly across authoritarian and hybrid regimes?
What factors have influenced state decisions to adopt more- or less- restrictive approaches, and how durable are these choices once taken?
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Internet Policy as Norm Adoption
1.State Characteristics
2.Interdependencies (International / Regional)
3.Global Context & Trends
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State Characteristics
• “Offline” Regime Type (Policy-Linkage)
• Internet Penetration
• Protest Levels (Perceived Stability Risk)
• Perceived Restriction Legitimacy
• Economic Costs / Benefits
• Technical Restriction Capacity
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International & Regional Interdependencies
•International Pressure
•Regime Vulnerability
•Restrictive Neighbors & Peers
Global Trends & Context
• Growing Global ICT Penetration
• Changes in Global Internet Infrastructure
• “Arab Spring” as Exogenous Shock
• Global Norm Trends / Legal Contestation
Internet Regulation: Findings
Why Russia matters…
Policy-linkage alone doesn’t explain
Penetration rate alone doesn’t explain
Domestic instability
Regional clusters
Policy divergence?
Future for Hybrid Regimes???
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Global Internet Future?
Future of the Internet and activism?
“Internet Freedom” Promotion
Growing Restrictions
Role of Companies
Increasing State Control
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