Abstract

This talk will present theoretical insights and empirical results from the book Repression in the Digital Age. It will examine why and how governments employ various forms of cyber controls, such as censorship and surveillance to inform their strategies of violent repression. The book presents large-scale analyses of fine-grained data on the Syrian conflict, qualitative case evidence from Iran, and global comparative analysis on Internet outages to examine the complicated relationship between these technologies and repression. Taken together, the findings show that cyber controls are supporting security forces in their use of violent state repression: higher levels of Internet accessibility support more targeted violence, in particular in sectors of society that were previously shielded from state reach. Extreme forms of censorship or even shutdowns of the Internet occur in conjunction with larger and more indiscriminate repression. Building on insights from the book, the talk will conclude with follow-up work that studies how civilians, against the backdrop of mass online surveillance, modify their online behavior as part of efforts to improve their security during conflict.

Reference

Anita Ghodes (Hertie School), “Digital repression and Social Media Use”, IAST Lunch Seminar, Toulouse: IAST, December 9, 2025, 11:30–12:30, room Auditorium 4 (First Floor - TSE Building).