How Can Pro-regime Online Comments Influence Chinese Netizens’ Attitudes and Opinion Expressions? Normative or Informational Social Influence?

Abstract

Abstract China, as an authoritarian regime that has tight control over social media, has always sought to manipulate public opinion. In addition to censorship, the state mobilizes undercover paid posters to manufacture a pro-regime opinion environment. In this study, we examine the effectiveness of this adaptation by conducting an online survey experiment. We explore whether pro-regime comments accompanying a news post can effectively affect viewers’ private and expressed thoughts, as well as whether these are driven by normative or informational social influence. The results indicate that pro-regime comments cannot significantly influence individuals’ attitudes in favor of the authorities. Moreover, uniform pro-regime comments can even produce counterproductive effects. However, pro-regime comments do have an impact on individuals’ opinion expressions. Respondents who take dissenting viewpoints tend to avoid expressing themselves when facing a climate of pro-regime opinion. Additionally, the persuasive effects of high-quality pro-regime arguments were found to be better compared to low-quality arguments.