e-journal

Pulling the plug: Network disruptions and violence in civil conflict

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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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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

Journal of Peace Research

No. Panggil

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Penerbit

: SAGE Publications Ltd., 2015

Deskripsi Fisik

Journal of Peace Research 2015, Vol. 52(3) 352–367

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

DOI: 10.1177/0022343

Klasifikasi

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Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

2015, Vol. 52(3) 352–367

Subjek

Social

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

dody/Agus

Versi lain/terkait

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