10 - Democratic Backsliding and Authoritarian Resilience in Southeast Asia: The Role of Social Media

Summary

A sharp rise in the use of new technologies and social media in Southeast Asia has triggered a debate about the possible effects on the political architecture in the region. Is social media leading to increased political participation? Can social media boost democratization in authoritarian states in Southeast Asia? How are Facebook, YouTube and Twitter changing political communication? This chapter uses Southeast Asia as a laboratory to test certain hypothesis of the impact of social media on democratization and authoritarian resilience. While social media were seen as instruments of liberation a decade ago, they are today considered a major threat to democracy and human freedom (Diamond 2019). Digital media are regarded as providing fertile ground for the rise of authoritarian strongmen and right-wing groups, accelerating and deepening the current wave of autocratization. Autocratization is used here as an umbrella term to cover the diverse processes of democratic backsliding (which means the loss of democratic quality in a democracy), the breakdown of an existing democracy and the worsening conditions in electoral authoritarian regimes. In electoral authoritarian regimes elections are not competitive and fair and incumbents often use various strategies of manipulation to stay in power.

In this chapter I argue that authoritarian regimes in Southeast Asia have adapted to new technologies and are increasingly using social media and the internet for their own ends. They have enhanced censorship and online repression and are employing the internet to co-opt certain social groups, repress critics and legitimize their rule. The young democracies in the region are unstable and weakly institutionalized. Social media is furthering polarization and distrust in Southeast Asian societies, often based on disinformation campaigns and growing sectarianism. Here, elections have become virtual battlegrounds between contestants and internet and social media are actively used to misinform and intimidate.

The chapter is structured as follows: first, I compare political developments in Southeast Asia with global developments. I show that the region has not experienced a region-wide wave of democratization seen elsewhere and authoritarian regimes are more or less resilient towards political change. I then briefly discuss causes of democratic instability and authoritarian resilience in Southeast Asia. In the last chapter I discuss the effects of digital media for authoritarian resilience and democratic backsliding and identify the main mechanisms how social media is influencing regime developments.