Criminalizing Participation: Digital Authoritarianism After Mass Mobilization (Cases of Belarus and Georgia)
Criminalizing Participation: Digital Authoritarianism after Mass Mobilization (Cases of Belarus and Georgia) examines how digital infrastructures reshape the relationship between state power and civic agency in the aftermath of large-scale protest movements. Through a comparative analysis of Belarus and Georgia, the project investigates how communication platforms, legal regulations, and surveillance practices become intertwined in new forms of digital authoritarian governance. Combining political theory, legal analysis, and qualitative research, the project develops the concept of digital authoritarianism as a legal-infrastructural regime in which everyday digital participation increasingly becomes a source of political vulnerability. The research contributes to debates on democracy, the rule of law, and democratic resilience in Europe and its neighbourhood.
