Seminar Information

Time: 9 June 2023  (Friday)  9:00-11:00am  (Beijing Time)

Venue: Room 1127, Block A, Creative Building, Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University

Language:  English

Topic：Sowing Division: The Unintended Consequences of Geographic Tagging on Social Media

Abstract: I explore the unexpected consequences of Weibo’s geographic tagging policy in China, a case study that offers broader insights into information control in authoritarian regimes. Using unique high-frequency panel data from 200 influential Weibo accounts and a data leakage incident, coupled with Interrupted Time Series (ITS) analysis, I demonstrate that the policy effectively reduces public discourse and regime-threatening information. However, it does so not by suppressing overseas users but by deterring domestic users from engaging in out-of-province discussions. This policy also has unintended effects, such as manipulating the salience of geographic identity, which intensifies geo-based group division and conflict.

Lecturer:Yang Yang, PhD candidate in political Science, University of California, San Diego