Securitising online dissent: Digital repression and social media control in Pakistan

The article examines how securitisation operates in an authoritarian regime through top-down institutional power and traces the transformation of online dissent into a security threat in Pakistan. As the political struggle increasingly shifts to social media platforms, states are developing new mechanisms to regulate and suppress online dissent. In Pakistan, concerns over national security, misinformation, fake news and cybercrimes are increasingly invoked to justify restrictions on online freedom of expression. These practices are often discussed in the context of digital authoritarianism, while less attention has been paid to security discourse as a mechanism of controlling online dissent. This study addresses this gap by integrating securitisation theory with the scholarship on digital authoritarianism to analyse how online dissent is securitised in Pakistan. The study employs a qualitative case-study design based on discourse analysis of official speeches, legal amendments and human rights reports produced between 2022 and 2026. The study contributes to theoretical scholarship on securitisation by analysing how securitisation functions in authoritarian regimes where institutional authority can substitute for audience persuasion emphasised in classical securitisation theory. Empirically, the study highlights the implications of the securitisation of online dissent on freedom of expression and the future of digital governance in Pakistan and beyond.