Availability of alternative information through social media, in particular, and digital media, in general, is often said to induce social discontent, especially in states where traditional media are under government control. But does this relation really exist, and is it generalizable? This article explores the relationship between self-reported online news consumption and protest participation across 48 nations in 2010–2014. Based on multilevel regression models and simulations, the analysis provides evidence that those respondents who reported that they had attended a protest at least once read news online daily or weekly. The study also shows that the magnitude of the effect varies depending on the political context: surprisingly, despite supposedly unlimited control of offline and online media, autocratic countries demonstrated higher effects of online news than transitional regimes, where the Internet media are relatively uninhibited.

人们通常说，通过社交媒体（尤其是数字媒体）提供替代信息通常会引起社会不满，尤其是在传统媒体受政府控制的州。但是这种关系真的存在吗，并且可以推广吗？本文探讨了2010-2014年间48个国家的自我报告的在线新闻消费与抗议参与之间的关系。基于多级回归模型和模拟，该分析提供了证据，表明那些报称参加过抗议活动的受访者每天或每周至少阅读一次新闻。这项研究还表明，影响的程度取决于政治背景：令人惊讶的是，尽管据说对线下和在线媒体的控制不受限制，