The Paradox of Information Control Under Authoritarianism

Explaining Trust in Competing Messages in China

Bibliographic Data

ID6344370
AuthorsChengli Wang (0000-0003-1887-8746, University of Macau), Jiangnan Zhu (0000-0002-5981-6886, Department of Politics and Public Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, corresponding author), Dong Zhang (0000-0003-3786-2272, Division of Social Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong)
Year2024
Volume72
Issue4
Pages1431-1452
Publication date2024-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00323217231191399
OpenAlexW4386051661
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited61

To steer public opinion, autocracies prioritize state media reports of political news while marginalizing commercial and foreign media. Can this dominance guarantee people’s trust in state media news? We contend that rumors, circulated via informal channels and resistant to state information control, present a formidable challenge to public trust in state media news. Our two survey experiments in China pitted news of varying information quality (e.g. informative/detailed reports vs cursory mentions of events) from state media sources against rumors, showing that state media news can retain high levels of trustworthiness only if its information quality is high; however, low-quality state media news resulting from information control diminishes its trustworthiness and prompts people to believe rumors. Low-quality rumors have more negative effects than high-quality rumors on news trustworthiness and citizens’ satisfaction with government policies. Thus, information control can paradoxically erode trust in state media, which often represent the government in autocracies

Advertising · Authoritarianism · Autocracy · Business · China · Control (management · Democracy · Distrust · Dominance (genetics · Government (linguistics · Information quality · Information system · Internet privacy · News media · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Public relations · Quality (philosophy · State (computer science · Trustworthiness · Computer Science · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Social Media and Politics

Tools

Open DOI