Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-wq484 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T02:42:25.965Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Digital Authoritarianism and the Future of Human Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2021

Tiberiu Dragu Open the ORCID record for Tiberiu Dragu [Opens in a new window]  and
Yonatan Lupu Open the ORCID record for Yonatan Lupu [Opens in a new window]
Get access

Abstract

How will advances in digital technology affect the future of human rights and authoritarian rule? Media figures, public intellectuals, and scholars have debated this relationship for decades, with some arguing that new technologies facilitate mobilization against the state and others countering that the same technologies allow authoritarians to strengthen their grip on power. We address this issue by analyzing the first game-theoretic model that accounts for the dual effects of technology within the strategic context of preventive repression. Our game-theoretical analysis suggests that technological developments may not be detrimental to authoritarian control and may, in fact, strengthen authoritarian control by facilitating a wide range of human rights abuses. We show that technological innovation leads to greater levels of abuses to prevent opposition groups from mobilizing and increases the likelihood that authoritarians will succeed in preventing such mobilization. These results have broad implications for the human rights regime, democratization efforts, and the interpretation of recent declines in violent human rights abuses.

Keywords

Human rightsinformation technologyauthoritarianismrepressionformal theory
Type
Research Article
Information
International Organization , Volume 75 , Issue 4 , Fall 2021 , pp. 991 - 1017
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James A.. 2006. Economic Backwardness in Political Perspective. American Political Science Review 100 (1):115–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aday, Sean, Farrell, Henry, Lynch, Marc, Sides, John, Kelly, John, and Zuckerman, Ethan. 2010. Blogs and Bullets: New Media in Contentious Politics, United States Institute of Peace.Google Scholar
Barbera, Salvador, and Jackson, Matthew O.. 2020. A Model of Protests, Revolution, and Information. Quarterly Journal of Political Science 15 (3):297–335.10.1561/100.00019002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, and Downs, George W.. 2005. Development and Democracy. Foreign Affairs September/October:77–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, David, and Ranney, Austin. 1994. Referendums Around the World: The Growing Use of Direct Democracy. American Enterprise Institute.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, Darin, and Garfias, Francisco. 2018. Can You Hear Me Now? How Communication Technology Affects Protest and Repression. Quarterly Journal of Political Science 13 (1):89–117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conrad, Courtenay Ryals, and Moore, Will H.. 2010. What Stops the Torture? American Journal of Political Science 54 (2):459–76.10.1111/j.1540-5907.2010.00441.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conrad, Courtenay R., and Ritter, Emily Hencken. 2013. Treaties, Tenure, and Torture: The Conflicting Domestic Effects of International Law. The Journal of Politics 75 (2):397–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conrad, Courtenay R., and Ritter, Emily Hencken. 2019. Contentious Compliance: Dissent and Repression Under International Human Rights Law. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dafoe, Allan, and Lyall, Jason. 2015. From Cell Phones to Conflict? Reflections on the Emerging ICT–Political Conflict Research Agenda. Journal of Peace Research 52 (3):401–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danneman, Nathan, and Ritter, Emily Hencken. 2014. Contagious Rebellion and Preemptive Repression. Journal of Conflict Resolution 58 (2):254–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davenport, Christian. 2007. State Repression and Political Order. Annual Review of Political Science 10:1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deibert, Ron. 2015. Authoritarianism Goes Global: Cyberspace Under Siege. Journal of Democracy 26 (3):64–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeMeritt, Jacqueline H.R. 2015. Delegating Death: Military Intervention and Government Killing. Journal of Conflict Resolution 59 (3):428–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, Larry. 2010. Liberation Technology. Journal of Democracy 21 (3):69–83.10.1353/jod.0.0190CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickson, Bruce. 2016. The Dictator's Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party's Strategy for Survival. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dobson, William J. 2012. The Dictator's Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy. Random House.Google Scholar
Dragu, Tiberiu. 2011. Is There a Trade-off Between Security and Liberty? Executive Bias, Privacy Protections, and Terrorism Prevention. American Political Science Review 105 (1):64–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dragu, Tiberiu. 2017. The Moral Hazard of Terrorism Prevention. The Journal of Politics 79 (1):223–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dragu, Tiberiu, and Lupu, Yonatan. 2018. Collective Action and Constraints on Repression at the Endgame. Comparative Political Studies 51 (8):1042–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dragu, Tiberiu, and Polborn, Mattias. 2013. The Administrative Foundation of the Rule of Law. The Journal of Politics 75 (04):1038–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dragu, Tiberiu, and Przeworski, Adam. 2019. Preventive Repression: Two Types of Moral Hazard. American Political Science Review 113 (1):77–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enikolopov, Ruben, Makarin, Alexey, and Petrova, Maria. 2020. Social Media and Protest Participation: Evidence from Russia. Econometrica 88 (4):1479–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fariss, Christopher J. 2014. Respect for Human Rights Has Improved Over Time: Modeling the Changing Standard of Accountability. American Political Science Review 108 (2):1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fariss, Christopher J. 2019. Yes, Human Rights Practices Are Improving Over Time. American Political Science Review 113 (3):868–81.10.1017/S000305541900025XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrell, Henry. 2012. The Consequences of the Internet for Politics. Political Science 15 (1):35–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freedom House. 2016. Freedom on the Net.Google Scholar
Gates, Bill, Myhrvold, Nathan, Rinearson, Peter, and Domonkos, Donald. 1995. The Road Ahead. Viking.Google Scholar
Gehlbach, Scott, Sonin, Konstantin, and Svolik, Milan W.. 2016. Formal Models of Nondemocratic Politics. Annual Review of Political Science 19:565–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gohdes, Anita R. 2020. Repression Technology: Internet Accessibility and State Violence. American Journal of Political Science 65 (3):488–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gore, Al. 1991. Infrastructure for the Global Village. Scientific American 265 (3):150–53.Google Scholar
Gunitsky, Seva. 2015. Corrupting the Cyber-commons: Social Media As a Tool of Autocratic Stability. Perspectives on Politics 13 (1):42–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 1991. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Hafner-Burton, Emilie M., and Tsutsui, Kiyoteru. 2005. Human Rights in a Globalizing World: The Paradox of Empty Promises. American Journal of Sociology 110 (5):1373–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hibbs, Douglas A. 1973. Mass Political Violence: A Cross-national Causal Analysis. Wiley.Google Scholar
Hill, Daniel W., and Jones, Zachary M.. 2014. An Empirical Evaluation of Explanations for State Repression. American Political Science Review 108 (3):661–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, Daniel W. Jr. 2010. Estimating the Effects of Human Rights Treaties on State Behavior. The Journal of Politics 72 (4):1161–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopgood, Stephen. 2013. The Endtimes of Human Rights. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Howard, Philip N. 2010. The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Information Technology and Political Islam. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watch, Human Rights. 2019. China's Algorithms of Repression: Reverse Engineering a Xinjiang Police Mass Surveillance App.Google Scholar
Huxley, Aldous. 1958. Brave New World Revisited. Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Kalathil, Shanthi, and Boas, Taylor C.. 2001. The Internet and State Control in Authoritarian Regimes: China, Cuba and the Counterrevolution. First Monday 6 (8).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalathil, Shanthi, and Boas, Taylor C.. 2003. Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule. Carnegie Endowment.Google Scholar
King, Gary, Pan, Jennifer, and Roberts, Margaret E.. 2013. How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism But Silences Collective Expression. American Political Science Review 107 (2):326–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
La Rue, Frank. 2011. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression. United Nations.Google Scholar
Little, Andrew T. 2016. Communication Technology and Protest. The Journal of Politics 78 (1):152–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorentzen, Peter. 2014. China's Strategic Censorship. American Journal of Political Science 58 (2):402–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupu, Yonatan. 2013a. Best Evidence: The Role of Information in Domestic Judicial Enforcement of International Human Rights Agreements. International Organization 67 (3):469–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupu, Yonatan. 2013b. The Informative Power of Treaty Commitment: Using the Spatial Model to Address Selection Effects. American Journal of Political Science 57 (4):912–25.Google Scholar
Lupu, Yonatan. 2015. Legislative Veto Players and the Effects of International Human Rights Agreements. American Journal of Political Science 59 (3):578–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manacorda, Marco, and Tesei, Andrea. 2020. Liberation Technology: Mobile Phones and Political Mobilization in Africa. Econometrica 88 (2):533–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaughlin, Jenna. 2016. Spies for Hire: How the UAE Is Recruiting Hackers to Create the Perfect Surveillance State. The Intercept, 24 October. Available at <https://theintercept.com/2016/10/24/darkmatter-united-arab-emirates-spies-for-hire/>..>Google Scholar
Milner, Helen V. 2006. The Digital Divide: The Role of Political Institutions in Technology Diffusion. Comparative Political Studies 39 (2):176–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, Will H. 1998. Repression and Dissent: Substitution, Context, and Timing. American Journal of Political Science, 42 (3):851–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, Will H. 2000. The Repression of Dissent: A Substitution Model of Government Coercion. Journal of Conflict Resolution 44 (1):107–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morozov, Evgeny. 2012. The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. Public Affairs.Google Scholar
Moyn, Samuel. 2010. The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Muñoz, Heraldo. 2008. The Dictator's Shadow: Life Under Augusto Pinochet. Basic Books.Google Scholar
Nalepa, Monika. 2008. To Punish the Guilty and Protect the Innocent: Comparing Truth Revelation Procedures. Journal of Theoretical Politics 20 (2):221–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 2001. Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paine, Jack. 2016. Rethinking the Conflict “Resource Curse”: How Oil Wealth Prevents Center-Seeking Civil Wars. International Organization 70 (4):727–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierskalla, Jan Henryk. 2010. Protest, Deterrence, and Escalation: The Strategic Calculus of Government Repression. Journal of conflict Resolution 54 (1):117–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierskalla, Jan H., and Hollenbach, Florian M.. 2013. Technology and Collective Action: The Effect of Cell Phone Coverage on Political Violence in Africa. American Political Science Review 107 (2):207–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polyakova, Alina, and Meserole, Chris. 2019. Exporting Digital Authoritarianism: The Russian and Chinese Models. Policy Brief, Brookings Democracy and Disorder Series. Available at <https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/FP_20190827_digital_authoritarianism_polyakova_meserole.pdf>.Google Scholar
Qin, Bei, Strömberg, David, and Wu, Yanhui. 2017. Why Does China Allow Freer Social Media? Protests Versus Surveillance and Propaganda. Journal of Economic Perspectives 31 (1):117–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reuter, Ora John, and Szakonyi, David. 2015. Online Social Media and Political Awareness in Authoritarian Regimes. British Journal of Political Science 45 (1):29–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritter, Emily Hencken. 2014. Policy Disputes, Political Survival, and the Onset and Severity of State Repression. Journal of Conflict Resolution 58 (1):143–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritter, Emily Hencken, and Conrad, Courtenay R.. 2016. Preventing and Responding to Dissent: The Observational Challenges of Explaining Strategic Repression. American Political Science Review 110 (1):85–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Margaret E. 2018. Censored: Distraction and Diversion Inside China's Great Firewall. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Rød, Espen Geelmuyden, and Weidmann, Nils B.. 2015. Empowering Activists or Autocrats? The Internet in Authoritarian Regimes. Journal of Peace Research 52 (3):338–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodan, Garry. 1998. The Internet and Political Control in Singapore. Political Science Quarterly 113 (1):63–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rundlett, Ashlea, and Svolik, Milan W.. 2016. Deliver the Vote! Micromotives and Macrobehavior in Electoral Fraud. American Political Science Review 110 (1):180–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shapiro, Jacob N., and Siegel, David A.. 2015. Coordination and Security: How Mobile Communications Affect Insurgency. Journal of Peace Research 52 (3):312–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shapiro, Jacob N., and Weidmann, Nils B.. 2015. Is the Phone Mightier Than the Sword? Cellphones and Insurgent Violence in Iraq. International Organization 69 (2):247–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shirky, Clay. 2008. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. Penguin.Google Scholar
Shultz, George P. 1984. New Realities and New Ways of Thinking. Foreign Affairs 63 (4):705–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegel, David A. 2011a. Non-disruptive Tactics of Suppression Are Superior in Countering Terrorism, Insurgency, and Financial Panics. PLoS One 6 (4):e18,545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegel, David A. 2011b. When Does Repression Work? Collective Action in Social Networks. The Journal of Politics 73 (4):993–1010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, Beth A. 2009. Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svolik, Milan. 2008. Authoritarian Reversals and Democratic Consolidation. American Political Science Review 102 (2):153–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svolik, Milan W. 2012. The Politics of Authoritarian Rule. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svolik, Milan W. 2013. Contracting on Violence: The Moral Hazard in Authoritarian Repression and Military Intervention in Politics. Journal of Conflict Resolution 57 (5):765–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilly, Charles. 1978. From Mobilization to Revolution. McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Tufekci, Zeynep. 2017. Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest. Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Wintrobe, Ronald. 1998. The Political Economy of Dictatorship. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Dragu and Lupu supplementary material

Online Appendix

Download Dragu and Lupu supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 216.9 KB