The Elite Networks Project
NA
Project overview
2017
- The Elite Networks Project2017
This project collects and analyzes data on telecommunications ownership and control (TOSCO) to assess whether and how political connections influence the willingness of companies to comply with government requests to censor or block Internet access. The TOSCO dataset enables a comparative large-N analysis of the determinants and effects of different ownership structures and identities in the changing context of 49 African countries. Combining different strands of literature from political science, economics and business administration, we theorize how different government-business owner linkages, both domestically and internationally, determine a firm’s willingness to comply with government orders to block Internet access, even if this would result in financial losses. By linking ISP data from TOSCO with VPN usage data, we determine which ISPs have blocked or censored internet access between 2017 and 2021.