Ramping up control: how judicial harassment and online smear campaigns work in tandem to limit dissent in Thailand

This article explores the escalating intersection between traditional and digital repression, focusing specifically on judicial harassment and online smear campaigns. The repression of Thailand's 2020–2021 protests is chosen as an exploratory case because the country's long-standing history of suppressing dissent through weaponized laws and propaganda primarily shaped recent dynamics of repression. We propose a two-pronged mechanism to explain the interplay between judicial harassment and online smear campaigns. Firstly, the campaigns craft narratives that delegitimize individual activists, thereby framing them as targets for legal charges. Secondly, online smear campaigns legitimize severe penalties against activists, mobilizing public endorsement of these legal actions. Our methodology involves three steps. We began with qualitative analysis, using official documents and interviews with targeted activists to assess the extent to which judicial harassment and online smear campaigns were employed as a policy. We then tracked the frequency and content of posts by pro-establishment social media accounts referencing charged protest leaders. Lastly, we compared the timelines of two activists who were frequently mentioned and faced the most charges, revealing an increase in mentions during their pre-trial detention. Ultimately, our analysis bridges the gap between studies on digital repression in autocracies and the autocratic justification of repression.