Protest and repression on social media: Pro-Navalny and pro-government mobilization dynamics and coordination patterns on Russian Twitter
- Author(s)
- Aytalina Kulichkina, Nicola Righetti, Annie Waldherr
- Abstract
In this study, we examine connective protest mobilization and suppression during the 2021 protests in Russia. We use time series analysis to study the dynamic interplay between the pro-Navalny movement and pro-government countermovement on Twitter, complemented by network analyses of co-retweeting networks to assess the movements’ coordination patterns. Findings show that pro-Navalny accounts were more active and coordinated within more centralized Twitter networks than pro-government accounts. Contrarily, the pro-government camp employed preventive communication tactics and coordinated in more clustered networks. Granger causality tests reveal that pro-Navalny tweeting activity triggered increased pro-regime reaction during the largest protests on 23 January and 21 April, whereas pro-government tweeting activity caused the escalation of pro-Navalny reaction during the 14 February protests. Both sides’ tweeting activity decreased after the February protests, presumably due to external repression. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of online mobilization and coordination strategies via social media in authoritarian contexts.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Communication
- External organisation(s)
- Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo"
- Journal
- New Media & Society
- ISSN
- 1461-4448
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241254126
- Publication date
- 06-2024
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 508020 Political communication
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences, Communication, Sociology and Political Science
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/607f01f2-d85b-4d8a-90e6-dcb1bd14e298