Censored Distraction and Diversion Inside China's Great Firewall

287 Pages·2020·5.149 MB·English

by  Project Muse.;ROBERTS, MARGARET E

Censored

Censored
DISTRACTION AND
DIVERSION INSIDE
CHINA’S GREAT FIREWALL
Margaret E. Roberts
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
Copyright(cid:2)c 2018byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,
41WilliamStreet,Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,
6OxfordStreet,Woodstock,Oxfordshire,OX201TR
press.princeton.edu
AllRightsReserved
ISBN978-0-691-17886-8
LibraryofCongressControlNumber2017962808
BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailable
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinMinionPro
Printedonacid-freepaper∞
TypesetbyNovaTechsetPvtLtd,Bangalore,India
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10987654321
Formyparents,
DonandBarbaraRoberts

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introduction 1
1.1 ThePuzzleofPorousCensorship 1
1.2 DistractionandDiversion 4
1.3 ImplicationsandChallenges
toConventionalWisdom 10
1.4 ThePlanoftheBook 17
2 ATheoryofCensorship 21
2.1 WhyDoGovernmentsCensor? 21
2.2 CitizensAreRationallyIgnorant 26
2.3 TraditionalMediaCareabout
StoryCosts 32
2.4 CitizensExchangeLow-CostInformationThrough
SocialMedia 34
2.5 WhatIsCensorship? 37
2.6 TheMechanismsofCensorship 41
2.7 Fear 44
2.8 Friction 56
2.9 Flooding 80
2.10 Conclusion 92
3 CensorshipinChina 93
3.1 ModernHistoryofInformationControlinChina 94
3.2 CensorshipoftheChineseInternet 104
4 ReactionstoExperiencewithCensorship 113
4.1 China’sTargetedCensorshipStrategy 117
4.2 TheCostsofObservableCensorship 121
4.3 MatchedComparisonofCensoredandUncensored
SocialMediaUsers 122
viii • CONTENTS
4.4 AnExperimentalStudyofConsumersofSocialMedia 137
4.5 Conclusion 145
5 ThePowerfulInfluenceofInformationFriction 147
5.1 TheEffectsofContentFilteringontheSpread
ofInformation 152
5.2 StructuralFrictionsandthe
GreatFirewall 162
5.3 WhenDoesFrictionFail? 182
5.4 Conclusion 187
6 InformationFlooding:CoordinationasCensorship 190
6.1 WhatEffectCanPropagandaHaveintheDigitalAge? 195
6.2 FloodinginChina 199
6.3 DetectionofInformationFloodinginNewspapersand
OnlineMedia 201
6.4 TheInfluenceofFloodingontheSpread
ofInformation 215
6.5 Conclusion 221
7 ImplicationsforaDigitalWorld 223
7.1 WhyPorousCensorshipMatters 224
7.2 AuthoritarianResilience 227
7.3 ImplicationsforFreeSpeech
inDemocracies 230
7.4 ACallforFutureResearch 232
8 Appendix 237
8.1 DescriptionoftheChinaUrbanGovernanceSurvey 237
8.2 WordsRelatedtoCensorship,
MutualInformation 237
8.3 TibetSelf-ImmolationsNegativeBinomialModel 241
WorksCited 243
Index 261
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing a book is not something done in solitude; rather, it
is reliant on the insights, conversations, support, and feedback
of an entire community. I am indebted to many for their help
throughout this process. The origins of this book are in my
conversations with Gary King and Jennifer Pan, with whom I
originally began working on censorship and who encouraged
me to pursue the idea beyond what is censored to how cen-
sorshipimpactspeople.Theirideasandfeedbackareembedded
in this work, and I am thankful to them for being wonderful
mentors, collaborators, and friends. Similarly influential was
Brandon Stewart, whose work appears within this manuscript,
and who through a long friendship and collaboration has
strongly impacted how I think both about data analysis and
socialscience.
ThisbookgrewoutofmydissertationthatbeganatHarvard.
I owe a great debt to my many colleagues in graduate school
whose ideas, criticisms, and friendship enriched my time at
Harvardandvastlyimprovedmywork.NotonlyBrandonand
Jen, but also the rest of my reading group—Shelby Grossman,
Chiara Superti, Amanda Pinkston, and Vanessa Williamson—
read many versions of my work and provided invaluable feed-
back. My dissertation committee—Gary King, Jeff Frieden,
ElizabethPerry,andDustinTingley—providedmewithincredi-
blefeedbackandsupportthroughoutmytimeatHarvard.They
provided outstanding examples of scholars and teachers, and I
learnedatremendousamountfromthem.
WhenImovedtoUniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego,Iwas
immediatelywelcomedintoawarmcommunityofscholarswho
took me under their wing. I could not be more indebted to