Online Repression Outsourcing: Anti-feminism on China's Internet

• In Event: Gender and Politics Research in China

Abstract

This essay investigates how a high-capacity authoritarian state efficiently authorizes and harnesses the anti-feminist movement on the internet to intensify the suppression of feminism. As feminists are forced onto the internet due to the constriction of civic space, they become susceptible not only to state censorship and surveillance but also to the aggressions of state-sanctioned and coordinated anti-feminist thugs. This essay employs the concept of "digital repression outsourcing" to analyze how the anti-feminist movement leads in monitoring, investigating, stigmatizing, punishing, and deterring feminist activities. Crucial to the functionality of this counter movement are its hierarchical mobilization structures, the violent materialization of authoritarian narratives, and its sustainability as a profit-generating industry. The reliance on the anti-feminist movement and the weaponization of the Internet significantly broadens the reach of repression, inflicting tangible harm beyond the digital realm, effectively achieving the state's objective of extensively and persistently mitigating the feminist threat without triggering significant backlash. This essay's research expands the comprehension of how the Internet facilitates the participation of non-state actors in repression and state-led counter movements in authoritarian contexts.

Author

• Pin Lu, Rutgers University