Online Political Protest in China: Its Causes and Implications

Abstract

This thesis examines the growing social phenomenon of online political protests in China. While studies have found that internet technologies have empowered the Chinese government to stifle political mobilization and dissent on the Internet, they failed to explain the proliferation of political protests in China's cyberspace. Other studies focused on how the Internet's technical features, contradictions within China's political system, or individuals' grievances contributed to the occurrence of online political protests. However, the principal limitation of these studies was that they could not explain why the effects of online political protests on China's political changes were so limited. This thesis presents an examination of the emergence and political impacts of China's online political protests. It employs the Political Opportunity Structure theory to explain why online political protests frequently occur in China and why they have not caused meaningful changes to China's political system.

The thesis argues that the emergence and demise of China's online political protests are dependent upon four key factors--elite divisions, internet control, online social networks, and influential allies, which form political opportunity structures for online political protests. While the existence of elite divisions, capricious internet control, extensive online social networks, and the active role of influential allies cause the occurrence and development of online political protests, the disappearance of such factors will damage political opportunity structures for online political protests, thereby leading to their end. The thesis conducts three case studies--the Lei Yang event (雷洋事件), the Watch Brother event (表哥事件), and the Chai Jing event (柴静事件)--to test the validity of its main argument.

The thesis represents a further step towards apply social movement theories to study acts of protest in China's cyberspace. Moreover, by examining the dynamic process of online political protests, it has provided a deeper insight into the role of the Internet in catalyzing political changes in China.