RICHARD HORNIK: THE END OF ATOMIZATION. EFFORTS BY AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES TO CONTROL SOCIAL MEDIA FALL SHORT OF THEIR DESIRED ENDS; ESSAY

The rise of Facebook and other so­cial media outlets has led to spirited debates as to their impact on the ability of political authorities to control political speech and to sup­press public unrest. There is no ques­tion that social media present new challenges to authoritarian regimes, which have historically sought to control their publics by giving them a shared sense of destiny while at the same time atomizing the people as individuals. The goal has been to suppress dissent by forcing anyone who has critical thoughts about the state to keep these to themselves. Has the traditional authoritarian strategy of atomizing the public been destroyed?

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