Big Brothers United: The Influence of China and Russia in Strengthening Digital Authoritarianism in Tajikistan

Abstract While, in recent years China, and to a lesser degree Russia, have been mooted as “models” of authoritarian internet governance that other autocratic states can emulate, at present relatively little has been written on the transfer of internet technologies and policies within the framework of global authoritarianism. In this research note, we explore the deployment of digital authoritarianism in Tajikistan and the role played by state actors and businesses from Russia and China in supporting this. To examine how internet technologies and policies have been transferred, we draw on textual analysis and the comparison of twelve laws in China, Russia and Tajikistan related to the internet. Our analysis finds that cooperation has led to legal convergence, with Tajikistan adopting Russian, and to a lesser degree Chinese, information security laws and regulations. Russia, China and Tajikistan have shared understandings and have developed similar normative approaches to internet governance.