Censorship, just like many other tools the Chinese authoritarian government uses, is not only a way for the state to exercise its power over the society, but it also provides a channel for the society to collect information about the state, assess the political environment, and even influence the decisionmakers through an interactive process. Therefore, the interactive authoritarianism model is applicable not only to CSOs operating in physical spaces in local communities after earthquakes but also applicable to online communities operating in virtual spaces. This chapter uses the three-stage model to examine virtual associations and speeches as a form of civil society activity and to provide an analysis of the state’s interactions with self-media publishers after institutional disruptions such as technological innovations.
