Internet communication technologies (ICTs) enable diasporas to act transnationally by facilitating ties to their places of origin and providing low-cost ways to mobilize against home-country regimes. However, studies neglect to address how ICTs globalize regimes’ methods of social control and impact anti-regime diasporas. In order to investigate the operation and effects of what I call digitally-enabled transnational repression, this study analyzes data that include original interviews with pro-revolution Syrian activists based in the US and Britain. The findings demonstrate that the presence and tactics of pro-regime agents online during the onset of Syria’s 2011 uprising (i) eroded respondents’ transnational ties and (ii) deterred many from using ICTs to contest the Assad regime. The study shows how networked authoritarianism mitigates diaspora members’ voices and tactics during periods of violent unrest, which is precisely when ICT-enabled activism can aid home-country movements in significant ways. I conclude by discussing implications for the study of authoritarian regimes, diasporas, and transnational dynamics of contention.
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