News about social media information campaigns, spyware, and internet shutdowns across the globe have left even the most hardened cyber optimists wary of the impact that digital controls are having on politics and society. In The Rise of Digital Repression, Steven Feldstein asks a series of ambitious questions aimed at understanding what digital repression is, who uses it (and how much), and what role Chinese companies play in promoting the use of such repressive technologies beyond their borders. Feldstein defines digital repression “as the use of information and communications technology to surveil, coerce, or manipulate individuals or groups in order to deter specific activities or beliefs that challenge the state” (p. 25). He posits that currently available digital repressive techniques can be subsumed into five categories: (1) surveillance techniques aimed at tracking dissidents and gathering information, (2) censorship aimed at suppressing dissent, (3) the (offline) persecution of online activists, (4) manipulation and disinformation on social media aimed at influencing public opinion, and (5) internet shutdowns as a brute force technique aimed at suppressing dissent.

Based on these categories, Feldstein sets out to explore what types of countries are most likely to employ these techniques. In chapter 3, drawing on the Digital Society Project’s coding of various aspects of state control of the internet, Feldstein provides a bird’s-eye view of the relationship between regime type and digital repression. Autocracies are more likely to make use of digital repression than democracies, but flawed democratic countries have been playing catch-up when it comes to deploying disinformation and smear campaigns against political opponents. Autocracies are also more likely to use surveillance and censorship techniques and resort to the offline persecution of vocal netizens.

The book then moves into in-depth case studies on the pervasiveness and dynamics of digital repression in three countries. In Thailand, Feldstein documents a nuanced yet thorough usage of digital tools that builds on the country’s long-standing experience with “military-bureaucratic repression” (p. 98). Taking a deep dive into the mixture of populist rhetoric, overt use of violence, and online propaganda that has propelled Rodrigo Duterte to the top echelons of power in the Philippines, Feldstein discusses the ways in which that country’s hyper-connected population has been exposed to some of the most insidious forms of digital repression witnessed by an—albeit flawed—democracy to date. Reflecting on the state of politics in Ethiopia in 2020, he zooms in on the country’s complicated political transitions through the lens of digital repression. With a long-standing network of community-level in-person surveillance, Ethiopia was quick to adopt digital surveillance and censorship practices, even at a time when few Ethiopians had access to the internet. Feldstein argues that, even though the country has expanded its capabilities of digital control, the government’s leadership change has been accompanied by a “proliferation of hate speech, disinformation, and trolling” (p. 191).

The book concludes with two chapters that zoom out and into the future. Looking at the potentially transformative power of artificial intelligence and big data to empower power-hungry state actors, Feldstein suggests that, even though AI-powered repression technology is steadily spreading around the world, its implementation and adoption will likely be led by high-capacity autocracies that have both the willingness and capability to stabilize their power algorithmically. In his final chapter, the author contends that not all is lost and discusses a series of important entry points for civil society actors (among others) to effectively rise up and challenge digital repression.

Feldstein’s book provides the most detailed stocktaking of the various aspects of digital repression to date. For readers, especially those looking for an introduction into the topic, it offers a sheer treasure trove of examples and details on contemporary forms of digital repression. Even the aggregate-level chapters are filled to the brim with vignettes that allow the reader to fully grasp the extent, variety, and pervasiveness of the issue at hand.

Moving beyond the most frequently studied cases of digital authoritarianism (China and Russia), the rich contextual case studies provide the kind of refreshing nuance often missing from deterministic arguments that frame technology as being either overwhelmingly advantageous for zealous autocrats or revolutionary for prodemocracy activists. Feldstein shows us that the everyday logistics of digital repression are far from being automated or flawless. In the case studies, the reader can vividly picture the author’s interview partners as they relay the messiness of wanting to surveil, control, and manipulate people online. This is particularly apparent when the author investigates the role of Chinese companies in supporting and advancing digital repression in the three countries under consideration. Feldstein studies the superpower’s technological influence within the context of historical bilateral and geopolitical relations, showing that Chinese influence “is not an absolute condition” (in Thailand, p. 125), often driven by “affordability” (in the Philippines, p. 167), and tends to be led by the country’s demand, not China’s ability to supply such tools (in Ethiopia, p. 205).

The book provides convincing evidence for the role of technology in supporting both autocratic and illiberal democratic regimes in their quest to establish and maintain political control. It takes a largely inductive approach, allowing the evidence to guide the narrative. Although this approach has obvious strengths—avoiding an oversimplification of the relationship between technology and repression— it would have been interesting to read more concrete theoretical predictions and conceptual motivations at the outset of the book. In chapter 2, Feldstein stresses that the five techniques of digital repression he identifies “are not mutually exclusive; in many instances they overlap,” but that “each technique draws from a unique set of tools to perform its objectives” (p. 25). Yet, the tools used to block websites (defined as censorship) may also be used to block social media apps (defined as shutdowns). And although scholars such as Margaret Roberts (Censored, 2018) have analyzed content flooding as a form of censorship, Feldstein categorizes it as social manipulation because “its first-order use is to manipulate existing content” (p. 31). But if the first-order use of techniques is the main interest, shouldn’t, for example, “targeted persecutions of online users” (p. 35) be classified as conventional (not digital) repression? Because the five identified techniques overlap, it is less straightforward to formulate clear theoretical expectations about their use across different contexts.

Two questions arise when reflecting on the evidence from the case studies and the cross-national comparison. First, what role do state capacity and general economic development play in explaining variation in digital repression? The cross-national comparative chapter focuses on correlations between political institutions and digital repression, but conventional measures of state capacity may also prove important here. State capacity is considered in the context of future developments in the field of AI and big data, but it has likely affected the past decade of digital repression as well.

The other question pertains to the timing and responsiveness of digital repression. Two of the cases had just held elections (Thailand and the Philippines), and the third one was going through a major political transition (Ethiopia). Social movement scholarship teaches us that elections and leadership turnover provide windows of opportunity for opposition groups to make their voices heard both nationally and internationally. It would be interesting to understand the extent to which contentious events affect the ways in which governments use digital repression and to what extent digital repression techniques are enabling or replacing conventional forms of repression in the context of political upheaval.

These questions open up interesting avenues for future research and should not distract from the fact that The Rise of Digital Repression will surely stimulate much-needed discussions about the role and future of technology in contentious politics, both within and beyond the academy.