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UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Challenging information scarcity The effect of internet use on protest under authoritarian regimes Ruijgrok, K. Publication date 2018 Document Version Final published version License Other Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Ruijgrok, K. (2018). Challenging information scarcity: The effect of internet use on protest under authoritarian regimes. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:26 Sep 2021 Challenging Information Scarcity The Effect of Internet Use on Protest under Authoritarian Regimes © Copyright, 2018 Kris Ruijgrok ISBN: 978-94-92801-43-2 Cover Design: Andrea Vendrik Layout: proefschrift-aio.nl Print: proefschrift-aio.nl Challenging Information Scarcity The Effect of Internet Use on Protest under Authoritarian Regimes ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. ir. K.I.J. Maex ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op 4 juli 2018, te 12.00 uur door Kris Ruijgrok geboren te Amsterdam Promotiecommissie: Promotor: prof. dr. M.E. Glasius Universiteit van Amsterdam Copromotor: dr. U. Daxecker Universiteit van Amsterdam Overige leden: prof. dr. B.M. Burgoon Universiteit van Amsterdam prof. dr. R. Vliegenthart Universiteit van Amsterdam dr. J.L. Uitermark Universiteit van Amsterdam prof. dr. P.G. Klandermans Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam prof. dr. ir. R.J. Deibert University of Toronto dr. J. Pan Stanford University Faculteit der Maatschappij- en Gedragswetenschappen 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 6 Chapter 1: Introduction 9 Chapter 2: A Theoretical Framework 21 Chapter 3: Does Internet Use Facilitate Anti-Government 45 Protest Under Authoritarian Regimes? Chapter 4: Internet Use and Sympathizing with an Anti- 79 Government Protest Movement Chapter 5: Internet Use and Informing Protest Sympathisers 111 About an Anti-Government Protest Chapter 6: Internet Use and Being Motivated to Join an 137 Anti-Government Protest Chapter 7: Scaling up the Malaysian Findings 171 Chapter 8: Conclusions and Reflections 201 Appendix 218 Bibliography 304 Summary 316 Samenvatting 322 5 Acknowledgements It might sound pathetic – and perhaps it is – but when my supervisor-to-be Marlies Glasius called me in November 2013 to tell me I could join her research project as a PhD, I burst out in tears. Now that my PhD comes to an end, I still consider that moment as one of the happiest in my life. Every PhD project has its ups and downs, and so did mine, but I am glad to say that the last four years of working at the UvA were very exciting and enjoyable for me. The fact that I can call myself Dr. Ruijgrok from now on (and please feel free to do so) makes me proud, but would never have been possible without the support of many others. A big, big thank you should go to all the people in Malaysia that made time for me and assisted me during my research in the country. Although the list of people that I owe gratitude to is long, I would like to mention the names of Gopi, Jo, King Chai and Masjalizah in particular for helping me find the right contacts and making me feel safe and at home in Kuala Lumpur. My successful cooperation with the Merdeka Research Center would moreover never have been possible without the amazing help, energy and assistance of Melu Mello. Unexpectedly, a couple of weeks after handing in the final version of my dissertation, the Barisan Nasional coalition was brought down through national elections for the first time since 1957. I believe this dramatic turn of events makes most of my book’s arguments even more relevant. But rather than for myself or the value of my research, I am extremely happy with the recent election results for those who suffered under the Barisan Nasional’s repression in their struggle for protecting Malaysians’ civil and political rights. Back home, I would first of all like to thank Marlies Glasius for being an incredible supervisor in every possible way. Your confidence, flexibility, and commitment are unparalleled, and your bright, spot-on interventions and feedback have helped me tremendously throughout the process. As it is unfortunately no option to stay a PhD student under your guidance until my retirement, I also appreciate the time and effort you put into finding a new position for me and the others of our team. Ursula Daxecker, thank you for being the ideal daily supervisor and taking me by the hand in the academic universe. Your illuminating, analytical mind brought my work to higher standards, and pushed me to sharpen my thinking and arguments. There is a long list of other people that I would like to thank at the UvA, beginning with the teachers I had during my time as a student. Brian Burgoon, your lectures and seminars had a huge (positive) impact on my younger self. Paul Aarts, thanks for being an amazing lecturer and inspiring me and many others around me. Andrea Ruggeri, thanks for showing me how to do sound (quantitative) research and believing in my abilities. Thanks also to Annette Freyberg-Inan, Armen Hakhverdian, Rens 6 Vliegenthart and Thijs Bol who gave great courses during my PhD. I am also grateful that my research was embedded in a larger project where I got valuable support, input and comments from Adele, Aofei, Emanuela, Imke, Jos and Marcus. Special thanks also to Meta for taking such great care of the project in many different ways. I am indebted to my colleagues of the Transcon program group for broadening my academic horizon. The reason I didn’t mention the colleagues I share(d) a room with so far, is not because they did not have an impact on my research project – many of them actually did - but because my gratitude and bond goes far beyond that. A very important reason for why it was so much fun doing a PhD was because of you, guys. Joep, you are an amazing person that brings “sunshine to the office every day” (Hoijtink 2016). Jos, buddy, we went through a lot together, and I hope our friendship extends far beyond our PhD-life. Douwe, thanks for your humor and love. Daniel, David, Jesse and Bart, thanks for the friendship and allowing me to be my absurdist self. Danny, Edward, Esmé, Jessica (2x), Joan, Julia, Marijn, Nilma, Pieter, Roberto and Tasniem thanks for making the office such a pleasant work-environment and for accepting my childish competitiveness in table tennis At last, a big shout out to all my family and friends. Special thanks to Andrea for the great cover; Jesse and Punya for being the best bff’s on the planet; to Els and Henny for their unconditional support, to BT and Floor for not allowing me to think I am really something; and to Lucia, for the proof-reading, advice, and for making the (non-)academic journey so much more fun. 7 8 Chapter 1 Introduction “In Malaysia you saw that as the internet penetration increased, especially in urban areas, people started to vote quite heavily for the opposition. And for the last two years, online social media have only accelerated the awareness among the public. Malaysians don’t really visit independent news website unless they’re really politically inclined or interested in what’s happening. But Facebook and WhatsApp make it really easy to share stuff and short messages like a paragraph, link or an infographic. So there’s a lot of that going around now, even exposing Malaysians that are not politically interested to political materials.” Interview with Malaysian activist Anil Netto, 15 February 2016, Penang. Internet Use and Protest Under Authoritarian Regimes The importance of profoundly understanding the drivers behind protest under authoritarian regimes is hard to overestimate. Mass mobilisation can be the prelude to dramatic political ruptures that affect the lives of many. This can be for the better, as Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution or Slobodan Milosevic’ overthrow demonstrate, but protests can also be the overture of a nightmare, as revealed by the horrendous civil wars in Ukraine and Syria. Irrespective of whether protest movements succeed in achieving their goals, our concern here is the determinants of street protest, also because taking to the streets is one of the few ways through which repressed peoples living under authoritarian rule can voice their dissent. Mobilisation not Democratization The internet was heralded by cyber-optimists in the late 1990s as a ‘liberation technology’ that would undermine authoritarian regimes’ traditional control over information and communication. Cyber-pessimists, however, have in later years downplayed the liberating potential of the internet, arguing that contemporary 9 authoritarian regimes can make the internet work to their own advantage by using it as a tool of repression.