"This book is an essential resource for anyone interested in how autocracies channel online information flows towards regime survival. It provides insightful analysis that will help both students and practitioners better understand how authorities in China use the Internet to give citizens a voice but also to steer citizens' resistance and protest away from the central government. This lively book is a must read for the times we live in." -- Genia Kostka, Professor of Chinese Politics, Freie Universität Berlin"This impressive new book examines how China's rulers shape online discourse to redirect dissident impulses away from themselves and toward local governments. Using new survey evidence and case studies, the authors find that autocrats can survive and even benefit from the new information flows unleashed by the internet." -- Peter Lorentzen, Associate Professor of Economics, University of San Francisco"This innovative and well researched book sheds new light on how the Chinese authoritarian regime has been able to sustain itself by controlling online communication. The theory and empirical demonstration of 'directed digital dissidence' presented in the book are a key contribution for all researchers interested in the relationship between the internet, freedom, and control." -- Cristian Vaccari, Professor of Political Communication, Loughborough University"The monograph provides an intriguing exploration of the effects of information control and public opinion management in China.

It will appeal to a wide readership including China specialists, scholars of comparative authoritarianism, students of political communication and anyone interested in the impact of digital technologies on society and governance." -- Christian Göbel, The China Quarterly"The book is a valuable contribution to the discourse on propaganda, digital dissidence and political expression in China." -- Zheyu Shang, Europe-Asia Studies.