Gendered Transnational Authoritarianism in Cyberspace

Abstract

Abstract Transnational authoritarianism—the efforts of states to influence, surveil, and target citizens abroad—brings together international migration studies and authoritarian studies. Despotic state practices outside of the nation-state’s territories are enhanced by the rise of information and communications technologies (ICT), with the cybersphere ripe for exploitation by authoritarian regimes. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) perfected cyber-surveillance for domestic control and now uses these strategies to harm citizens abroad. Through a case study of the Uyghur community—a minority Turkic and Muslim population undergoing persecution by the CCP—this chapter explores how the Chinese state uses the cybersphere to surveil and target Uyghurs abroad. The chapter argues that the cybersphere plays an integral role in the CCP’s efforts to silence and harm Uyghurs living outside of China and that this cyberviolence of the CCP in its transnational authoritarianism holds concerning implications for democracy and human security.