Scaling Authoritarian Information Control: How China Adjusts the Level of Online Censorship

AuthorRongbin Han,Li Shao
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/10659129211064536
Published date01 December 2022
Date01 December 2022
Article
PoliticalResearchQuarterly
2022,Vol.75(4)13451359
©2022UniversityofUtah
Articlereuseguidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI:10.1177/10659129211064536
journals.sagepub.com/home/prq
ScalingAuthoritarianInformation
Control:HowChinaAdjuststheLevelof
OnlineCensorship
RongbinHan
1
andLiShao
2
Abstract
Autocraciescanconductstrategiccensorshiponlinebyselectivelytargetingdifferenttypesofcontentandbyadjusting
thelevelofinformationcontrol.Whilestudieshaveconrmedthestatesselectivetargetingbehaviorincensorship,few
haveempiricallyexaminedhowtheautocraciesmayadjustthecontrollevel.Usingdatawitha6-yearspan,thispaper
testswhethertheChinesestatescalesupcontrolovercitizenrycomplaintsinreactiontoaseriesofsocio-political
events.Theresultsshowthatinsteadofrespondingtomassprotestsandmajordisastersaspreviousstudieshave
suggested,thestatetendstoadjustthecontrollevelbecauseofpoliticalceremonies,policyshifts,orleadershipchanges.
Thendingshelprenethestrategiccensorshiptheoryandofferagranularunderstandingofthemotivesandtacticsof
authoritarianinformationcontrol.
Keywords
authoritarianinformationcontrol,strategiccensorship,Internet,China
Theliteratureoncensorshipinautocracieshasexplored
theselectivetargetingphenomenonextensively(e.g.,
Bamman,OConnor,andSmith2012;Fu,Chan,and
Chau2013;King,Pan,andRoberts2013;Qin,
Str¨
omberg,andWu2017),withthefocusonwhythe
governmentblockscertaintypesofcontentbutnotthe
others.However,thelevelofcensorshipmaynotbe
constantoveraspecictypeofcontent.Forexample,to
celebratethe70thAnniversaryofthefoundingofthe
PeoplesRepublic,Chineseauthoritiesbannedoverly
entertainingTVshowsforahundreddaysfrom1August
2019onward,whilepromotingonly86selectedmain-
streampropagandaTVseries.
1
Suchabaninsteadof
targetingaspecictypeoftabootopicrepresentsascale-
upofthelevelofinformationcontrol,albeitforalimited
timeperiod.Howtoexplainsuchtemporaryscale-upof
controloncertaincontentduringspecialtimeperiods?
BuildingonthestrategiccensorshipmodelbyPeter
Lorentzen(2014),thisarticleprovidesevidenceonhow
theChinesestateadjuststhelevelofcontroloveronline
informationacrossthetime.Morespecically,weaddress
thequestion:underwhatcircumstancesdoestheChinese
governmentscaleupthelevelofinformationcontrol?
Thisarticledifferentiatesselectivetargetinginstate
censorship,whichhasbeenheavilystudied,fromad-
justmentsintheinformationcontrollevelandfocuses
onlyonthelatter.Ifselectivetargetingisaboutsortingout
whattypeofcontentistoleratedorcensored,thuscon-
cernsprimarilywithmappingtheboundariesofexpres-
sion,adjustingthelevelofcontrolindicatesthescenarioin
whichthestateshrinksorexpandsthezoneofpermissible
expression.Usingametaphorofhighwaypatrolhere,we
arenotstudyingwhethertrafcpolicecatchingand
punishingdriversgoingabovethespeedlimitof65miles
perhourbutwhenandwhythetrafcauthoritiestem-
porarilyorpermanentlyadjustthespeedlimitfrom65to
45milesperhour.Weoperationalizeadjustmentsinthe
controllevelaschangesinthevolumeofabroadcategory
ofonlineexpressioncitizenrycomplaintsaboutlocal
problems(again,notspeciccasesofsuchcomplaints).
Wethentestwhetheraseriesofsocio-politicalevents
havecauseductuationinthiscategoryofexpressionby
1
DepartmentofInternationalAffairs,UniversityofGeorgia,Athens,
Georgia
2
DepartmentofPoliticalScience,SchoolofPublicAffairs,Zhejiang
University,Hangzhou,China
CorrespondingAuthor:
LiShao,DepartmentofPoliticalScience,SchoolofPublicAffairs,
ZhejiangUniversity,634SchoolofPublicAffairs,ZhejiangUZijingang,
Hangzhou310068,China.
Email:shaoli@zju.edu.cn

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