Digital Authoritarianism

Abstract

Abstract This chapter approaches digital authoritarianism as practices that rely on digital technologies to prevent critical debate and accountability demands to powerholders by disrupting information flows and free expression. This approach shifts the focus from governments to the multitude of actors shaping digital technologies. It highlights how, in the digital age, authoritarian power is built and sustained in transnational and globalized configurations that involve state and non-state actors, and cut across regime types. The chapter synthesizes existing scholarship around four key forms of silencing and disabling access to information: (1) online censorship, (2) internet shutdowns, (3) digital surveillance, and (4) online information manipulation. Future research should disentangle the actor configurations engaged in digital authoritarian practices and investigate how these practices fit within larger repertoires of authoritarian rule. The chapter also highlights the need to focus on challenges to digital authoritarianism, such as protests and investigative research and advocacy.