3G internet and confidence in government

By Sergei Guriev, Nikita Melnikov and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya

How does the internet affect government approval? Using surveys of 840,537 individuals from 2,232 subnational regions in 116 countries in 2008-2017 from the Gallup World Poll and the global expansion of 3G networks, we show that an increase in internet access, on average, reduces government approval and increases the perception of corruption in government. This effect is present only when internet is not censored and is stronger when traditional media is. Actual incidence of corruption translates into higher corruption perception only in places covered by 3G. In Europe, the expansion of mobile internet increased vote shares of anti-establishment populist parties.