DEMOCRACY DISCONNECTED: SOCIAL MEDIA’S CAUSTIC INFLUENCE ON SOUTHEAST ASIA’S FRAGILE REPUBLICS China has gained a significant amount of notoriety in the international press over the past couple of decades for its implementation of strict controls on online speech. Through the use of a sophisticated system of technological and human surveillance, the Chinese Communist Party has employed brute force tactics as a means of silencing dissent and prohibiting access to information that could present government leaders in an unfavorable light. Even with these repressive measures in place, however, anti-regime messages continue to proliferate on the Chinese internet, owing to the ability of the country’s netizens to circumvent censorship mechanisms.62 The Chinese government has, consequently, found itself caught up in a digital cat-and-mouse game with internet users that has required it to expend a significant amount of time and resources to maintain its tight control on speech. In recent years, the Chinese regime has adopted a new approach to how it counters online dissent. To be sure, the elaborate system of censorship remains in place. However, China’s leaders have found a possibly more effective solution to controlling public opinion, even while allowing their critics to speak their minds. A study released in 2017 by researchers from several prominent U.S. universities explored the activities of China’s “50 Cent Party,” a colloquialism ascribed to individuals allegedly paid a nominal sum by the government to post pro-regime comments on social media. According to the findings of the research, while there is no evidence to substantiate claims that ordinary citizens are employed in this manner, the government itself fabricates some 448 million comments online each year. Rather than seeking to counter the arguments of critics on controversial issues, government workers simply flood sites with posts that are intended to distract the public and change the subject, often using an appeal to Chinese nationalism.63 Moreover, while the mobilization of the 50 Cent Party is largely intended to quell internal dissent and mitigate the potential for regime-threatening collective action, there are indications that these forces are being mustered for intervention outside the mainland as well. In the run-up to Taiwan’s 2016 presidential election, the Chinese government temporarily removed its block on Facebook access, allowing commentators to post a flurry of messages attacking the Democratic Progressive Party candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, whom the Chinese government views as harboring a proindependence agenda.64 It is important to note that this effort to deter the Taiwan public from casting ballots for Tsai was ultimately unsuccessful and may have even aided her victory due to the transparent manner in which the attacks were carried out. China’s overt interference in the election very likely triggered counterproductive “psychological reactance” among Taiwan’s electorate, who were angered by this perceived attempt to control their behavior.65 Nevertheless, the Chinese government’s use of such organized online persuasion tactics suggests that regime leaders are learning how to manipulate powerful psychological phenomena such as social proof to their advantage as they seek 62 Mark McDonald, “Watch Your Language! (In China, They Really Do),” The New York Times, March 13, 2012, https://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/watch-your-language-and-in-china-they-do/. 63 Gary King, Jennifer Pan, and Margaret E. Roberts, “How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, Not Engaged Argument,” American Political Science Review 111, no. 3 (August 2017): 484501, https://gking.harvard.edu/files/gking/files/how_the_chinese_government_fabricates_social_media_posts_for_ strategic_distraction_not_engaged_argument.pdf. 64 Oiwan Lam, “When China Briefly Unblocked Facebook, Trolls Rushed In,” Advox, November 17, 2015, https:// advox.globalvoices.org/2015/11/17/when-china-briefly-unblocked-facebook-trolls-rushed-in/. 65 Ryan Smerek, “Don’t Tread on Me! Psychological Reactance as Omnipresent,” Psychology Today, December 21, 2017, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/learning-work/201712/don-t-tread-me-psychological-reactanceomnipresent. 14 | Foreign Policy at Brookings