ABSTRACT

This paper examines the practices, performance, and perceptions of the messaging platform Telegram as an actor in the 2020 Belarus protests, using publicly available data from Telegram’s public statements, protest-related Telegram groups, and media coverage. Developing a novel conceptualization of platform actorness, we critically assess Telegram’s role in the protests and examine whether Telegram is seen as playing an active role in Belarusian contentious politics. We find that Telegram’s performance and practices drive citizens to form affective connections to the platform and to perceive Telegram as an ally in their struggle against repressions and digital censorship. Meanwhile, the Belarusian state uses Telegram’s aversion to censorship and content moderation to intervene in contentious politics by co-opting grassroots approaches and mimicking manipulative efforts of other authoritarian regimes. Our conceptual framework is applicable to post-Soviet authoritarian contexts, but can also serve as a useful heuristic for analyzing platform actorness in other regime types.

摘要

本文使用来自 Telegram 的公开声明、与抗议相关的 Telegram 群组和媒体报道的公开数据，研究了消息平台 Telegram 作为 2020 年白俄罗斯抗议活动的参与者的做法、表现和看法。我们开发了一种新的平台行为概念化，批判性地评估 Telegram 在抗议活动中的作用，并检查 Telegram 是否被视为在白俄罗斯有争议的政治中发挥积极作用。我们发现 Telegram 的表现和实践促使公民与平台形成情感联系，并将 Telegram 视为他们与镇压和数字审查作斗争的盟友。与此同时，白俄罗斯政府利用 Telegram 对审查制度和内容节制的厌恶，通过采用基层方法和模仿其他威权政权的操纵手段来干预有争议的政治。我们的概念框架适用于后苏联威权主义背景，但也可以作为分析其他政权类型中平台行为者的有用启发式。