"Internet Control in Five Political Regimes in Latin America"

"Internet Control in Five Political Regimes in Latin America"

A critical analysis

Nora Murphy

Brief summary

Research question: Do mechanisms of internet control vary according to regime type in Latin America?

Authors: Iria Puyosa and Armando Chaguaceda

Method:

• Selection of five "typical case" countries
• Country profile describing regime type and analyzing V-Dem scores related to internet control and freedoms of expression and association
• Statistical correlation of API (additive polyarchy index) to internet freedom

The more autocratic a country, the more controls placed on the internet, and the more likely that these controls are "first generation"

ANalysis

Critique #1: LACK OF Conceptual and MEthodological CLARITY

An important topic treated with a somewhat superficial, and at times confusing, analysis

2.

Claim regarding first and second generation control mechanism is not systematically explored or fully explained

1.

Exploration of many variables not directly related to the main thesis of internet control, but rather civil liberties more broadly

API=[(Elected Officials+Suffrage)+2*(Clean Elections+Freedom of Organization+Freedom of Expression)]/8 = .125*Elected Officials+.125*Suffrage +.25*Freedom of Organization +.25* Clean Elections +.25*Freedom of Expression

3.

Use of API to measure regime type makes the argument somewhat circular

Critique #2: Small sample

Analysis limited to only five countries

Highly problematic for quantitative analysis

Helpful for qualitative analysis, but the authors do only a superficial description of each case in the profiles

What happens when we broaden the authors' analysis to all Latin American countries?

Extension #1: Broadening the analysis

Overall findings remain the same. Original study: R = .9692, p = .017788 New analysis: R = .9083, p = 7.653 x 10-8

Extension #2: Internet control and regime type over time

Some cases support the authors' conclusions...

While others are more mixed...

Is there a relationship between polyarchy and internet freedom over time within countries?

in conclusion...

• The paper's main strength is its ability to represent statistically what we already "know" heuristically
• Further studies would benefit from either a deeper qualitative, or a broader quantitative, focus
• Further research of greater interest might ask:
• What circumstances cause governments to restrict or loosen internet control regulations?
• What explains variance in internet control among countries of the same regime type?
• What are the consequences of internet control on political mobilization?

Thank you!