Cyber-control in China

In this chapter, we propose a framework for identifying clear contexts and attendant mechanisms associated with authoritarian regimes' internet control measures. We build on the concept of the ‘field’ formed around internet control in authoritarian regimes. Viewing cyber-control as an ‘institutional field’ allows us to examine the evolution of regulative, normative and cognitive institutions. We have advanced a model that explains how an institutional field evolves. The findings are broadly consistent with existing theories on field formation. Nonetheless, this chapter has revealed unique processes and mechanisms associated with cyber-control-led field construction and reconstruction in authoritarian regimes.