ABSTRACT

In the context of increasing interest in the relationship between digital communications and authoritarian politics, this paper considers the criminalisation of online dissent in Tanzania. Based on interviews with police officers, local government officials and mobile phone users, the paper explores contested framings and understandings of “cybercrime”. It argues that contemporary repression of online freedoms can be understood within longer histories of social and political ordering, whereby understandings and experiences of “security” and “development”, and the relationships they imply between government and citizens, are implicated in the delegitimisation of dissent. However, it also finds that social media use enables and amplifies articulation of opposition to repressive measures and may destabilise the politics of security and development that inform the policing of online spaces and politics more broadly. The paper thus contributes, firstly, to understanding the ambiguous and contingent relationships between information and communications technologies and politics in particular places. Secondly, by analysing debates about internet freedom it offers insights into broader negotiations over politics, security and development, which are in turn rendered more urgent by the disruptive impact of new modes of communication.

摘要

在人们对数字通信与威权政治之间的关系越来越感兴趣的背景下，本文考虑了坦桑尼亚在线异议的刑事定罪。基于对警察、地方政府官员和手机用户的采访，本文探讨了对“网络犯罪”的争议框架和理解。它认为，当代对网络自由的压制可以在较长的社会和政治秩序历史中得到理解，其中对“安全”和“发展”的理解和经验，以及它们所暗示的政府与公民之间的关系，都牵涉到异议的非合法化。 . 然而，它还发现，社交媒体的使用促进并放大了反对镇压措施的表达方式，并可能破坏安全和发展政治，这些政治为更广泛的在线空间和政治监管提供信息。因此，本文首先有助于理解特定地方的信息和通信技术与政治之间的模糊和偶然的关系。其次，通过分析关于互联网自由的辩论，它提供了对更广泛的政治、安全和发展谈判的见解，而这些又因新通信模式的破坏性影响而变得更加紧迫。了解特定地方的信息和通信技术与政治之间的模糊和偶然关系。其次，通过分析关于互联网自由的辩论，它提供了对更广泛的政治、安全和发展谈判的见解，而这些又因新通信模式的破坏性影响而变得更加紧迫。了解特定地方的信息和通信技术与政治之间的模糊和偶然关系。其次，通过分析关于互联网自由的辩论，它提供了对更广泛的政治、安全和发展谈判的见解，而这些又因新通信模式的破坏性影响而变得更加紧迫。