Replication Data for: Accountability from Cyberspace? Scandal Exposure on the Internet and Official Governance in China

This article explores the effects of social media on government accountability under authoritarian regimes. It examines whether online discussions have a disciplining effect on officials’ scandals. We use a unique dataset containing records of scandals discussed on microblogs in China to systematically study their effects on the government response process and officials’ disciplining. We find that the government employs clear strategies: higher levels of online discussion lead to quicker government responses and more severe punishment of the officials involved. Scandals involving sexual and economic factors, which initially capture more attention, involve quicker responses and more severe punishments. Even when we exploit rainfall as the instrumental variable to mitigate the endogeneity, the results are still robust. Our findings highlight the accountability mechanism facilitated by social media and the power of social media empowerment.

本文探究威权政体下社交媒体对政府问责（government accountability）的影响，并检验网络讨论是否对官员丑闻起到惩戒效应（disciplining effect）。我们采用一份包含中国微博（microblogs）平台上讨论的丑闻记录的独特数据集，系统研究这些丑闻对政府处置流程及官员惩戒的影响。研究发现，政府采用了明确的应对策略：网络讨论热度越高，政府响应速度越快，对涉事官员的惩处也越严厉。涉及性与经济因素的丑闻初始关注度更高，对应的政府响应速度更快、惩处也更为严厉。即便我们利用降雨量作为工具变量（instrumental variable）以缓解内生性（endogeneity）问题，研究结果依然保持稳健。本研究结果凸显了社交媒体赋能（social media empowerment）的问责机制，以及社交媒体赋权的力量。