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Cited by 118Political Conflict and GovernanceMiddle East and Rwanda ConflictsMiddle East Politics and Society

Pulling the plug

Gohdes, Anita R·2015·Journal of Peace Research
DOI 10.1177/0022343314551398
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Abstract

New media outlets have been deemed a vital instrument for protesters and opposition groups to coordinate activities in the recent civilian uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. But what happens when regimes respond by shutting down the internet? I argue that governments have a strategic incentive to implement internet blackouts in conjunction with larger repressive operations against violent opposition forces. Short-term intermissions in communication channels are expected to decrease opposition groups’ capabilities to successfully coordinate and implement attacks against the state, allowing regime forces to strengthen their position. Network blackouts should consequently be accompanied by significant increases in military activity. Analyzing daily documented killings by the government in the Syrian civil war, I find that blackouts occur in conjunction with significantly higher levels of state repression, most notably in areas where government forces are actively fighting violent opposition groups. In addition, I estimate the number of undocumented conflict fatalities prior to and during network blackouts to test whether they are implemented to hide atrocities from outside observers, and find no support for this hypothesis. The results indicate that such network blackouts constitute a part of the military’s strategy to target and weaken opposition groups, where the underreporting of violence is not systematically linked to outages.

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  • Conventional and digital tactics may complement each other, for instance when governments shut down the internet 'just-in-time' to disrupt opposition forces' coordination and increase violent repression on the ground.

    “Third, conventional and digital tactics may complement each other. This is the case if digital interference interacts with conventional strategies, for instance, when governments shut down the internet 'just-in-time' to disrupt opposition forces' coordination and increase violent repression on the ground (Gohdes, 2015).”

    From How Dictators Control the Internet: A Review Essay (2020) · cites this paper as Gohdes, 2015

  • Large-scale shutdowns can facilitate offline repression of opposition groups during violent conflict.

    “We know that large-scale shutdowns can facilitate offline repression of opposition groups during violent conflict (Gohdes, 2015).”

    From How Dictators Control the Internet: A Review Essay (2020) · cites this paper as Gohdes, 2015

  • The timing of censorship during a coup is consistent with many studies that have shown that Internet censorship is targeted during sensitive political time periods and periods of potential power transitions, such as elections and large-scale protests.

    “First, the timing of censorship during a coup is consistent with many studies that have shown that Internet censorship is targeted during sensitive political time periods and periods of potential power transitions, such as elections and large-scale protests [23,25,44,47,73].”

    From A multi-perspective view of Internet censorship in Myanmar (2021) · cites this paper as [25]

  • Restrictions on access to digital information are often clear and overt, as is the case with Internet shutdowns.

    “Restrictions on access to digital information are often clear and overt (Table 2, cell 1), as is the case with Internet shutdowns (121, 122).”

    From Physical and virtual repertoires of contention (2022) · cites this paper as [121]

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Authors
Gohdes, A. R.
Affiliations
University of Mannheim (DE)
Corresponding author
Gohdes, Anita R
ORCID
Gohdes, Anita R
Venue
Journal of Peace Research
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2015-02-12
Volume
52
Issue
3
Pages
352-367
ISSN
  • 0022-3433 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-3578
DOI
10.1177/0022343314551398
OpenAlex
W2119085661
Cited by
118
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 1
FWCI
24.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
Journal of Peace Research (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Middle East Politics and Society
Keywords
internet shutdowns, state repression, Syrian civil war, underreporting of violence, Middle East and North Africa, military strategy

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