Digital Authoritarianism and the Future of Human Rights

How will advances in digital technology affect the future of human rights and authoritarian rule? Media figures, public intellectuals, and scholars have debated this relationship for decades, with some arguing that new technologies facilitate mobilization against the state and others countering that...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International organization 2021-01, Vol.75 (4), p.991-1017
Main Authors: Dragu, Tiberiu, Lupu, Yonatan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atrocities
Authoritarianism
Censorship
Democratization
Digital technology
Government
Human rights
Human rights violations
Innovations
International relations
Internet
Mobilization
Oppression
Political activism
Power
Prevention
Social networks
Society
Surveillance
Technological change
Technology
Technology adoption
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:How will advances in digital technology affect the future of human rights and authoritarian rule? Media figures, public intellectuals, and scholars have debated this relationship for decades, with some arguing that new technologies facilitate mobilization against the state and others countering that the same technologies allow authoritarians to strengthen their grip on power. We address this issue by analyzing the first game-theoretic model that accounts for the dual effects of technology within the strategic context of preventive repression. Our game-theoretical analysis suggests that technological developments may not be detrimental to authoritarian control and may, in fact, strengthen authoritarian control by facilitating a wide range of human rights abuses. We show that technological innovation leads to greater levels of abuses to prevent opposition groups from mobilizing and increases the likelihood that authoritarians will succeed in preventing such mobilization. These results have broad implications for the human rights regime, democratization efforts, and the interpretation of recent declines in violent human rights abuses.
ISSN:0020-8183
1531-5088
DOI:10.1017/S0020818320000624