Category: Authoritarianism

Taiwan’s Destiny: Election at ‘center of a clash between two forces’

     

Taiwan’s top diplomat said that his government stands with Hong Kong citizens pushing for “freedom and democracy,” and would help those displaced from the semi-autonomous Chinese city if Beijing intervenes… Read more »

Algeria crackdown as election looms: Is a democratic transition possible?

     

Algeria‘s contentious presidential election campaign is highlighting the deep gulf between young people at the heart of a street protest movement and an ageing elite they see as clinging to… Read more »

As disinformation spreads, ‘microtargeting’ advertising tools may threaten democracy

     

  As Facebook sought to recover from its disastrous 2016 election season, company officials debated ways to curb distortions and disinformation on the platform. One of the most potentially powerful… Read more »

Art of Deceit: West’s strategic culture impedes political warfare against autocrats’ sharp power

     

Authoritarian states have taken a “whole-of-government” approach to weaponizing previously benign activities like diplomacy, media, investment flows, and civil society activity, says a new report. But their activities betray a… Read more »

China’s book-burning a sign of regime’s legitimacy crisis?

     

Library officials in northwestern China recently hoped to demonstrate their ideological fervor and loyalty to the Communist Party by purging politically incorrect books and religious materials in emphatic fashion: They… Read more »

How to stop the ‘greatest propaganda machine in history’ from warping democracy

     

How to distinguish fact from fiction in an age where misinformation is dangerously pandemic? The Washington Post’s Valerie Strauss asks, drawing on lessons from the nonprofit News Literacy Project and the educational… Read more »

Egypt escalates pressure on last independent media voice

     

    Egyptian security forces targeted one of the last remaining independent news outlets in the country on Saturday, taking a journalist from his home and detaining him in an… Read more »

Iran ‘a powder keg’: Protests ‘strike at heart of regime’s legitimacy’

     

  The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened the U.S. and its allies Monday as he addressed a pro-government demonstration attended by tens of thousands of people denouncing last week’s… Read more »

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy election win ‘nothing short of a revolution’: Protesters ’embody democratic ideals’

     

  Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition won a stunning landslide victory in weekend local elections in a clear rebuke to city leader Carrie Lam over her handling of violent protests that… Read more »