Exploring the impact of online political activism on political processes in Kazakhstan: the Zhanaozen uprising Dila Beisembayeva A thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Master of International Communication Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand Declaration Name of candidate: Dila Beisembayeva This Thesis entitled “Exploring the impact of online political activism on political processes in Kazakhstan: the Zhanaozen uprising” is submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements for the Unitec degree of Master of International Communication CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION I confirm that: • This Thesis represents my own work; • Research for this work has been conducted in accordance with the Unitec Research Ethics Committee Policy and Procedures, and has fulfilled any requirements set for this project by the Unitec Research Ethics Committee. Research Ethics Committee Approval Number: NA Candidate Signature: Date: 6 March 2016 Student number: 1374771 ii Abstract In recent years social media attracted a lot of scholarly attention but exploring social media in a particular geographical locations was rather slow. The impact of social media on political, social and economic processes in Kazakhstan has not been explored yet. This thesis presents empirical findings of a research examining the use of social networking sites amongst Kazakhstanis during the uprising in the rich-oil town of Zhanaozen on 16 December 2011. It is guided by the main research question that looks at ”What impact does online political participation have on political processes in Kazakhstan?” This research provides a preliminary and exploratory analysis of how two blogging platforms: Yvision and LiveJournal serve as a foundation for the political and socially involved Kazakhstanis, and how in turn, this could have an effect on the political process in the post-soviet authoritarian state of Kazakhstan. This research applied a two-stage content analysis of messages posted on the blogging platforms (Yvision and LiveJournal) and in the two national newspapers Kazakhstanskaya Pravda and Golos Respubliki and in its online version – Respublika portal. In both instances, the period of six months was covered: from 16 December of 2011 when the uprising took place until May of 2012 when the first trials of the protesters began. Such a specific timeframe was chosen as this research focuses on the representation of the uprising both in the traditional forms of media as well as online and the consequences it had on political participation in Kazakhstan. Data is collected via non-participatory technique with a non-random sample selection process that allows focusing on the events of 2011 in Zhanaozen. Research findings demonstrated in the light of the uprising, online political activism does have an impact on political participation in Kazakhstan. Although Kazakhstanis iii are generally quite apolitical, such a tragic event served as a catalyst in raising political awareness and online media provided a platform for exploring this. However, not only did the authoritarian government prevented Kazakhstanis from being more politically involved by applying “just-in-time” censorship techniques, the existing digital gap prevented the majority of Kazakhstani to go online and participate in the online debate. Findings have also indicated that the crisis in Zhanaozen highlighted the long-standing problems with ethnic return migration as well as national and ethnic identity amongst Kazakhs. This thesis contributes to existing research on how political activism online can provide support for political activism online and impact the governing bodies. It also establishes a foundation for future studies on Kazakhstan and impact social media and activism has on it. iv Acknowledgements This thesis would have not been possible without the support of my superb supervisors: Associate Professor Evangelia Papoutsaki and Dr Elena Kolesova. I have fully appreciated their critique, numerous comments and immense support while working on this research project. I would like to acknowledge the support of the Department of Computing at Unitec and of Professor Hossein Sarrafzadeh in particular for the opportunity to present my ideas at a number of conferences. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family and friends in Kazakhstan and in New Zealand for supporting me on this journey. v Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ v Chapter I: Overview ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Background context ................................................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Aims and Objectives ............................................................................................................................. 4 1.3 Research Question ................................................................................................................................ 4 1.4 Rationale and Purpose ........................................................................................................................ 5 1.5 Thesis Outline ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter II: Background ........................................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 8 2.1 Country Profile ........................................................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Kazakhstan’s ethnic make-up ........................................................................................................... 12 2.4 Kazakhstan’s media profile ................................................................................................................ 13 2.5 Kazakhstan’s media online ................................................................................................................. 19 2.6 Kazakhstan’s media and the language ........................................................................................... 19 2.7 Internet and Censorship in Kazakhstan ........................................................................................ 20 2.8 Social networking sites in Kazakhstan .......................................................................................... 23 2.9 Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 24 Chapter III: Literature Review ............................................................................... 26 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 26 3.2 Activism in the Internet Age .............................................................................................................. 26 3.3 Framing and Agenda setting theories ............................................................................................ 29 3.4 Internet censorship and its different stages ............................................................................... 33 3.4.1 Countries of the Former Soviet Union – “first and second” generation of control .... 34 3.4.2 China – “first generation” censorship ............................................................................................ 55 3.4.3 Countries of the Arab Spring movement – “second- and third generation” censorship ..............................................................................................................................................................60 3.5 Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter IV: Research Design ................................................................................. 65 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 65 4.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................. 65 4.3 Content Analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 66 4.4 Data Collection Methods ..................................................................................................................... 69 4.5 Identifying data categories ................................................................................................................. 70 4.5.1 Identifying blogs on Yvision and LiveJournal ........................................................................... 71 4.5.2 Identifying newspapers ..................................................................................................................