The global rise of digital authoritarianism: A longitudinal analysis

Contrary to the expectation that digital technologies will contribute to democratization and civil liberties under authoritarian regimes, digital authoritarianism has intensified. This trend is not only observed in traditional authoritarian states but is also increasingly evident in a growing number of countries that use digital technologies to strengthen government control in various contexts. This study seeks to lay the foundation for further discussion by examining the evolution of digital authoritarianism. Digital authoritarianism was analyzed longitudinally from 2000 to 2023 across 178 countries and across different political regimes (closed autocracy, electoral autocracy, electoral democracy, and liberal democracy) using longitudinal data provided by the Digital Society Project and the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project, complementing the limitations of qualitative case studies of individual countries and regions. The findings show an increase in digital authoritarianism, particularly since 2016. The overall rise in government censorship and monitoring throughout the study period was primarily driven by significant increases in both electoral autocracies and electoral democracies. A similar pattern was observed for social media monitoring. These findings will help enhance our understanding of how digital authoritarianism has spread worldwide and how it differs across countries.