Digital Repression Beyond the Masses: How Autocrats Use Online Disinformation to Counter Elite Challenges

How do autocrats utilize online digital tools to ensure their political survival, especially when countering challenges from opposition elites? The extant literature primarily addresses authoritarian digital repression of the masses but often overlooks strategies that mitigate political challenges from opposition elites. This oversight leaves a significant gap in our systematic comprehension of digital authoritarianism, given that most authoritarian leaders are ousted by regime insiders, such as through coups with political elites. Empirical test results based on panel data analysis covering 81 authoritarian countries between 2000 and 2014 demonstrate that authoritarian regimes with more active use of digital disinformation increase the likelihood of autocrats’ survival. Thus, this study identifies dictators’ online digital tools designed to cope with elite challenges, showing that online disinformation assists them in supercharging their political survival by justifying their political behavior, such as the purge of the opposition elites, deterring the opposition elites from mobilizing, and silencing them.