How will advances in digital technology affect the future of human rights and authoritarian rule? Media figures, public intellectuals, and scholars have debated this relationship for decades, with some arguing that new technologies facilitate mobilization against the state and others countering that the same technologies allow authoritarians to strengthen their grip on power. We address this issue by analyzing the first game-theoretic model that accounts for the dual effects of technology within the strategic context of preventive repression. Our game-theoretical analysis suggests that technological developments may not be detrimental to authoritarian control and may, in fact, strengthen authoritarian control by facilitating a wide range of human rights abuses. We show that technological innovation leads to greater levels of abuses to prevent opposition groups from mobilizing and increases the likelihood that authoritarians will succeed in preventing such mobilization. These results have broad implications for the human rights regime, democratization efforts, and the interpretation of recent declines in violent human rights abuses.

中文翻译：

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数字威权主义与人权的未来

数字技术的进步将如何影响人权和威权统治的未来？媒体人物、公共知识分子和学者几十年来一直在争论这种关系，其中一些人认为新技术有助于动员反对国家，而另一些人则反驳说，同样的技术可以让威权主义者加强对权力的控制。我们通过分析第一个博弈论模型来解决这个问题，该模型解释了技术在预防性压制的战略背景下的双重影响。我们的博弈论分析表明，技术发展可能不会对威权控制有害，事实上，可能会通过促进广泛的侵犯人权行为来加强威权控制。我们表明，技术创新会导致更大程度的滥用，以阻止反对派组织动员，并增加威权主义者成功阻止此类动员的可能性。这些结果对人权制度、民主化努力以及对近期暴力侵犯人权行为减少的解释具有广泛的影响。