Why Regimes Repress: The Factors that Lead to Censorship of Social Media

Abstract

Social media have made it easier to create mass political action. Prominent examples include the Arab Spring movements, which took place in regions where information was previously tightly controlled by authoritarian regimes. Fearing radical change, several regimes have repressed social media use, but not all authoritarian regimes have taken the same measures. Previous research suggests that regime leadership is motivated to ensure its own survival but also influenced by a strong independent media and the need for citizens to vent grievances. To understand the relationship of these factors to social media repression, this research conducts a comparative process-tracing case study of Iran, Turkey, and Venezuela from 2004 to 2017, using a hypothesis-testing approach. It concludes with discussion of the findings for the nature of regime response to the role of social media in protest.