RESEARCH
Working Paper
[1] Yang, Tony Zirui. "Normalization of Censorship: Evidence from China" Under Review
[PDF]
[Online Appendices]
Abstract
Previous research claims that public awareness of censorship will lead to backlash against the regime. However, surveys consistently find that Chinese citizens are apathetic toward or even supportive of government censorship. To explain this puzzle, I argue that citizens are subject to a process of normalization. Specifically, individuals become desensitized to censorship when the range of censored content expands beyond politically threatening topics like government criticism and collective action to other seemingly harmless non-political issues. Using a dataset of 15,872 censored articles on WeChat and an original survey experiment in China, I show that (1) a majority of censored articles are unrelated to politically threatening topics, and (2) respondents exposed to the censorship of both political and non-political content display less backlash toward the regime and its censorship policy than those who were only exposed to political censorship. My findings highlight how normalization of repressive policies contributes to authoritarian control.
[2] Yang, Tony Zirui. "Participatory Censorship in Authoritarian Regimes"
[PDF]
Abstract
Contrary to the conventional top-down view of government censorship, ordinary citizens in authoritarian regimes frequently participate in censorship by reporting online content. This study theorizes a bottom-up perspective of censorship in authoritarian regimes and analyzes its prevalence and consequences on public opinion toward censorship in the case of China. I argue that public participation increases support for censorship by diminishing the government's responsibility and strengthening citizens' perceived empowerment. Using an original survey in China, I show that more than half of the respondents have flagged content online and such participation is positively correlated with support for government censorship. I further conducted an experiment embedded in custom-engineered, simulated social media pages. Consistent with my theory, respondents that are encouraged to report simulated posts display significantly higher support for government censorship. My study highlights the role of ordinary citizens in facilitating authoritarian control and the normalization of repressive policies such as censorship.
[3] Chen, Haohan, Yiqiang Wang, and Tony Zirui Yang. "Listen to the Party! Understanding Emotional Propaganda in Authoritarian China with Audio Data"
Abstract
Existing research on government propaganda in authoritarian regimes focuses on how propaganda content manipulates citizens' rational beliefs. However, few studies have systematically examined the delivery of propaganda messages. Yet, emotions conveyed via audio are both prevalent in authoritarian propaganda and indispensable in understanding
the purpose and effectiveness of propaganda. In this study, we collect original audio-visual recordings from Xinwen Lianbo, a flagship news program on China Central Television. We construct audio-based measures of emotional arousal, vocal pitch, from the state-sponsored news program as measures of the intensity of the state's effort in emotional propaganda. We then use structural topic models to analyze the transcript of CCTV propaganda and identify propaganda components with high intensity of emotional arousal. We find that emotional propaganda is most intensely employed on topics related to Xi Jinping and his signature political campaigns, as well as coercive words for intimidation. Our study makes both theoretical and methodological contributions to the study of political communication in authoritarian China.
