From Clicks to Change: Social Media's Role in Political Mobilization
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Abstract
The objective of this study is to analyze and evaluate a comprehensive theoretical model to understand how Bangladesh's Digital Security Act (DSA) and the regulation of mainstream media worked as an integral structure of organized infrastructure that successfully sustained systematic state violence in the context of the July 2024 uprising. Whilst literature abounds on digital authoritarianism and state violence, there has been insufficient consideration for the incorporation of legal-digital frameworks with traditional media suppression in exploring how authoritarian governments employ information suppression to facilitate violent repression during moments of political crisis. We used sequential explanatory mixed-methods, which consisted of the quantitative analysis of 7,247 DSA cases and 391 journalist prosecutions as reported between 2018 and 2024, as well as the qualitative content analysis of 847 articles from 12 newspapers (6 state-owned and 6 private) published during the peak of the uprising (July 15–August 15, 2024). We corroborated 156 episodes of violence through cross-validation from OHCHR, Amnesty International, and local human rights organizations. We observed a strong temporally correlated relationship (r=0.78, p<0.001) between digital repressive controls and multimedia censorship, and 94% of DSA indictments involved protest-related communication. Critical coverage in state-controlled media was reduced by 73%; strategic information blackouts preceded 82% of violent events (χ²=45.3, p<0.001). Cross-validated data reported 1,427 civilian deaths, 89% attributed to security forces, indicating targeted information censorship-violence practice. This research generates systematic empirical evidence that digital authoritarianism functions through linked legal-media structures as infrastructure for state violence as well as limitation of accountability. It contributes a novel theorization of information warfighting in authoritarian settings, as well as empirically confirmed early warning signs, with implications for defending digital rights and preventing state violence via information control.
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Publication Details
- Type of Publication:
- Conference Name: 3rd International Conference on Building Inclusive Futures: Society, Development and Governance in the 21st Century
- Date of Conference: 12/09/2025 - 12/09/2025
- Venue: University of Rajshahi
- Organizer: Faculty of Social Science, University of Rajshahi