Feelings of unease and confrontational attitude towards state controlled media are linked to increased searching of alternative online information, write Golnoosh Behrouzian, Erik C. Nisbet and Aysenur Dal of Ohio State University with Ali Çarkoğlu, of Koç University.

The authors surveyed over 3 000 Turks, both in face-to-face interviews and online. The respondents were asked about their views on the freedom of Turkish media, their feelings towards it, and their search for alternative, online sources.

Perceptions of censorship and wishes of more freedom were indirectly associated with online information seeking, the authors concluded. The mediator in this process is so-called “Motivated Resistance of Censorship” (MRC), which manifests in, for example, attempts to purposefully find flaws in official media coverage.

The article “Resisting Censorship: How Citizens Navigate Closed Media Environments” was published by the International Jouranl of Communication. It is freely available online (open access).

Picture: Untitled by cocoparisienne, licence CC0 1.0.