NETWORKING AUTHORITARIAN NEOLIBERALISM: REALIGNED STRATEGIES OF INFORMATION CONTROL AND RESISTANCE IN THE CASE OF TURKEY

This study analyzes the struggle to control the flow of information in the digital era by taking the contemporary Turkish experience as a case study. The political power in Turkey has sustained its rule since 2002, and its efforts to control the information flows proved crucial in that effort. Despite the progressive potentials of the new information and communication technologies, power relations have not only remained unaltered but have also been exacerbated in many contexts around the world. Turkey provides important insights into the uses of the new technologies by both those in control and those resisting. Based on in-depth interviews, document analysis, content analysis, and qualitative analysis of pro- and anti-government Twitter accounts during social upheavals, this study develops an analytical framework to explain the workings of the information control struggles and mechanisms that negate the democratizing potential of the digital media. The framework consists of five information control points: 1) instrumentalizing media through ownership structure; 2) privatizing censorship and surveillance by taking advantage of the business model of the digital media; 3) networking surveillance; 4) employing direct censorship and legal and political attacks; and 5) networking information campaigns, including state-sponsored campaigns. Each of these processes is not only contested but also exists in or relies on another. As the ruling elites deploy regeared and realigned strategies of information control, one of the most effective outcomes—and perhaps the most desired by those in power—is the establishment of a culture of self-censorship.