Authoritarianism and the Internet

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (04) ◽  
pp. 1427-1457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Druzin ◽  
Gregory S. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Public Perception ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Internet Censorship

This article argues that Internet censorship is more fragile than is generally supposed and is, in fact, vulnerable to abrupt collapse. The volume and rapidity of online communication renders perfect policing of the Internet technologically impossible. Authoritarian governments are thus forced to rely on Internet users to police themselves in the form of self-censorship. This strategy has proven largely successful—legal ambiguity regarding what constitutes impermissible speech fosters norms of self-censorship. This reliance on self-censorship, however, renders these censorial systems susceptible to shocks. We set out a model that explains sudden breakdowns in Internet censorship that we term “cyberspeech cascades.” A cyberspeech cascade occurs when small expressions of online dissent produce large shifts in public perception regarding the acceptable limits of online expression that are, in fact, inaccurate. Online bandwagons of progressively more brazen speech proliferate into large-scale torrents of uncensored expression, triggering the temporary collapse of self-censorship norms online.

scholarly journals A Study of the Landscape of Internet Censorship and Anti-Censorship in Middle East

10.29007/vpbg ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Rahimi ◽  
Bidyut Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Internet Censorship ◽  
The Right ◽  
Geographical Locations

The power of technology is one which supersedes any other tool of communication ever formulated and implemented by human beings. The internet has been long cited by scholars and practitioners alike to be an empowerment tool that allows individuals to either seek, receive or dole out information and ideas without any basis being drawn on boundaries or geographical locations. This, therefore, means that online communication has to be protected in lieu with the international dictums and pretensions that call for the right to freedom of expression.

scholarly journals Study on the Self–Growth of the Internet Communication System

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 535-542
Author(s):  
Yun-Feng Xia
Keyword(s):  
Communication System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Communication ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Evolving System ◽  
Tion System ◽  
Self Organizing

In this essay, I mainly discuss the self-organizing property of the Internet communication system. As an important part of the human information communication system, Internet communication has progressively become a system with large scale, complex constructions, and perfect functions through the complicated interactions among many sub-systems and their elements. In this process, which is mainly promoted by Internet users, the self-growth of the Internet communica- tion system not only increases the amount of its sub-systems and its elements, it also strengthens its constructions and functions. At the same time, the self-growth of the Internet communication system indicates that the system is an evolving system with self-organizing property.

Cyber Behavior of Chinese Internet Users

2012 ◽  
pp. 1264-1281
Author(s):  
Yurong He ◽  
Yang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Internet Use ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Internet Usage ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Services ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Cultural Comparisons

While China has the world’s largest Internet population, understanding of this huge group of Internet users still falls short. In this entry, the authors aim to provide an overview of literature on cyber behavior of Chinese Internet users. They focus on characteristics of Chinese Internet users, how they use the Internet and how the Internet influences them. The authors examine different aspects of their cyber behavior: (1) general Internet use, (2) use of specific Internet services such as blogs and social networking sites, (3) online communication and relationships, (4) problematic Internet usage, and (5) cross-cultural comparisons between Internet users in China and in other countries.

scholarly journals Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools: Escaping the Control of the Syrian Regime

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walid Al-Saqaf
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Information Control ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Media ◽  
Internet Censorship ◽  
Censorship Circumvention ◽  
The Arab Spring

Studies have shown that authoritarian regimes tend to censor the media to limit potential threats to the status quo. While such censorship practices were traditionally aimed at broadcast and print media, the emergence of the Internet and social media in particular, prompted some authoritarian regimes, such as the Assad regime in Syria, to try and exert a similar level of censorship on the Internet as well. During the Arab Spring, the Syrian regime blocked hundreds of websites that provided social networking, news, and other services. Taking Syria as a case study, this paper examines whether Internet censorship succeeded in preventing Internet users from reaching censored online content during 2010−2012. By analyzing the use of Alkasir, a censorship circumvention tool created by the author, the paper provides empirical evidence demonstrating that users were in fact able to bypass censorship and access blocked websites. The findings demonstrate that censorship circumvention tools constituted a threat to the information control systems of authoritarian regimes, highlighting the potential of such tools to promote online freedom of expression in countries where Internet censorship is prevalent.

scholarly journals Komunikasi Interpersonal Siswa Pengguna Internet dan Implikasinya terhadap Layanan Bimbingan dan Konseling

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Winda Marnita ◽  
Riska Ahmad ◽  
Azrul Said
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Public ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Counselling Services ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Question Form

Interpersonal communication through the internet is now becoming a trend among the public, especially students. Online communication is of  interest by students because it is cheap, easy and fast. The Internet as a communication medium between the interpersonal students with parents, teachers and fellow internet users. The use of the internet as a medium of interpersonal communication understood the students well. Aspects that should be understood in communicating interpersonal are students use of the internet, the purpose of the use of the internet, openness, attention, empathy, equality. This research is descriptive research, the population in this study are students of SMP Negeri Padang 25 that become the subject of research is as much as 69 students, data collected by using question form. This study reveals students' interpersonal communication through the internet and the implications for guidance and counselling services. Because most of students have yet to understand and implement the aspects of the accommodation.

Online communication: risks and prospects (on the basis of sociological study of public opinion in the EU countries)

2021 ◽  
pp. 22-29
Author(s):  
M. Yenin ◽  
Н. Korzhov
Keyword(s):  
Computer Network ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Online Services ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Distribution Of Power

The article analyzes the main approaches to the prospects for the development of network communication practices via the Internet. The influence of the development of digital technologies of social communication on the processes of socio-economic development, expansion of political participation, distribution of power and political mobilization is explored. At the same time, special attention is paid to the challenges and risks posed by Internet technologies for personal rights and freedoms. In particular, the emphasis is on the perception by Internet users of threats they face in the global computer network, on their behavioral responses to cybercrime, including safer patterns of behavior in cyberspace. Over time the level of competence of Internet users, their awareness in the field of cybersecurity is constantly increasing. There is also a growth, sometimes noticeable, in the share of the Internet audience utilizing various types of online services. The research illuminates that despite the growing scale of danger and concern of users themselves, the actual level of cyber-victimization among residents of EU countries remains quite stable. Such a positive trend is explained by both the effectiveness of measures to prevent and combat cybercrime implemented by government and corporate institutions and proactive and conscious position of the users themselves. The latter, being aware of the depth and scale of the risks, make various efforts to ensure network security (they periodically change passwords to access various online services, seek help from relevant organizations – both public and private).

scholarly journals Signs of aphasia: Online identity and stigma management in post-stroke aphasia

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Taubner ◽  
Malin Hallén ◽  
Åsa Wengelin
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Semiotics ◽  
Stigma Management ◽  
Post Stroke ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Qualitative Thematic Analysis ◽  
Working Age

This study aimed to investigate online strategies for re-negotiating identity, in terms of stigma management, developed by working-age Swedish Internet users with post-stroke aphasia, i.e., acquired language impairment caused by brain injury. Interviews were conducted with nine individuals (aged 26-61, three men and six women) with post-stroke aphasia. In addition, a total of 1,581 screenshots of online posts (e.g., photos, videos, text, emoticons) created by the same participants were collected. Drawing on social semiotics (specifically the three dimensions of online communication mentioned by Kress (2003), i.e., composition, content and context) and Goffman’s theory of stigma (1963, specifically the concepts of stigma management and passing), qualitative thematic analysis was performed. Regarding composition, three themes emerged: Relying on others or technology, Beyond speaking and writing, and Controlling speed and timing. The participants rarely posted content about aphasia, but some of them used the Internet to raise awareness. Different online contexts had different meaning to the participants in terms of identity. Being open about the aphasia in one forum did not imply the same behaviour in another forum (e.g., dating sites). For the participants to pass (Goffman, 1963), should they want to, they needed to control all three dimensions. If the context or the composition revealed the stigma, controlling the content was not enough to pass. The multimodality of the Internet enabled the participants to manage their stigma in a variety of ways and to choose whether to be perceived as persons with aphasia or not.

Connected Countryside: The Inhibiting Effect of Social Media on Rural Social Movements

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Schuler ◽  
Mai Truong
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Information Flows ◽  
Urban Movements ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

While much research focuses on social media and urban movements, almost no research explores its potentially divergent effects in rural areas. Building on recent work emphasizing the multidimensional effects of online communication on vertical and horizontal information, we argue that while the Internet may facilitate large-scale urban movements, it inhibits large-scale rural movements. Because social media increases vertical information flows between government and citizens, the central government responds quickly to rural protests, preventing such protests from developing into a large-scale movement. By contrast, social media does less to change the vertical information flows in urban areas. We explore the plausibility of our argument by process tracing the evolution of protests in urban and rural areas in Vietnam in the pre-Internet and in the Internet eras.

Research on Network Voting System Based on Conditional Entropy and Point-Including Protocol

2013 ◽  
Vol 846-847 ◽  
pp. 1860-1863
Author(s):  
Ying Guan
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Conditional Entropy ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Voting System ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Large Scale Land ◽  
Electronic Voting System ◽  
Realization Process

In the high speed development today, the use of the Internet has penetrated into all areas of life, with the increase of the number of internet users, much of word can be started on the internet. Takes a great deal of field in the process of large-scale ballot, is very complicated for the organization of elections. It is very complicated for the organization to occupy a large-scale land for a big election. But this will be convenient on the internet, so it can be applied to the big election. Based on the point includes protocol, this paper established the mathematical model of anonymous conditional entropy. Finally designing a electronic voting system based on the realization process of political democracy, which also test the anonymity of the system, and providing a theory reference for the democratic process on the network.

scholarly journals Polish Internet Language – Selected Forms

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-66
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Urzędowska
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Network Communication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Linguistic Expression ◽  
Social Trends ◽  
Current State ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Digital Network ◽  
Polish Language

Abstract One of the most interesting phenomena observed in the Polish language today is the unquestionable, non-rigorous ability of the language to adapt to the latest social trends like the development. This article provides an overview of the selected most network communication’ important forms of linguistic expression of contemporary Internet Polish language in the communicative aspect. The basic formations and structures used by Internet users are characterized and the current state of the Polish language of online communication is presented, paying attention to the less and less noticeable disproportions between communication in the Internet space and traditional interpersonal communication. The excerpted forms, based on the well-known and completely new abstract units of the dictionary system, allowed a synthetic analysis of an interesting linguistic and communicative phenomenon, which is the marriage of both traditional and new-fangled structures of the Polish language with modern and flexible forms of digital network communication.

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