Summary
In this lecture, we will talk about how we can use digital data to understand political censorship and repression in the digital age. First, we will talk about why it is important to study repression and censorship in the digital age. Second, we will discuss social science studies that make use of digital trace data such as internet measurement and social media data and discuss their findings and limitations. Finally, students will brainstorm in groups about own research questions and designs to measure the drivers and consequences of online censorship.
Readings
Lutscher, Philipp M. "Hot topics: Denial-of-Service attacks on news websites in autocracies." Political Science Research and Methods (2021) FirstView: 1-16. (Scientific) (PDF)
King, Gary, Jennifer Pan, and Margaret E. Roberts. "Reverse-engineering censorship in China: Randomized experimentation and participant observation. Science 345.6199 (2014): 1251722. (Scientific but quite accessible) (PDF)
Voluntary summary piece: Earl, Jennifer, Thomas V. Maher, and Jennifer Pan. "The digital repression of social movements, protest, and activism: A synthetic review." Science Advances 8.10 (2022): eabl8198. (PDF)