Online and Offline Repression in Electoral Autocracies: Evidence from Russia  

• In Event: Political Affairs Through the Lens of Russian Media

Abstract

An influential scholarship shows that contemporary autocrats respond to dissent using a combination of online and offline repression. Yet, we know little about the relationship between online and offline responses to protest in electoral autocracies. To gain traction on this question, we investigate the Russian government’s response to two waves of large-scale, anti-corruption protests taking place in March and June 2017. Offline, we analyze strategies of preventive repression, such as officially denying permissions for demonstrations, as well as responsive repression, such as arrests of protesters. On- line, we study the social media activity of accounts belonging to the Prime Minister and the Kremlin. We present preliminary descriptive results that show important variation in online and offline strategies adopted in anticipation of, and in response to the March and June protests. Our results also suggest that in both instances, online responses to these protests followed similar patterns to the offline repression. The results have important implications for our understanding of authoritarian resilience in the context of increasingly networked protest.

Authors

• Anita R. Gohdes, Hertie School

• Katerina Tertytchnaya, University College London