Not by Technical Means Alone: The Multidisciplinary Challenge of Studying Information Controls

The study of information controls is a multidisciplinary challenge. Technical measurements are essential to such a study, but they do not provide insight into why regimes enact controls or what those controls' social and political effects might be. Investigating these questions requires that researchers pay attention to ideas, values, and power relations. Interpreting technical data using contextual knowledge and social science methods can lead to greater insights into information controls than either technical or social science approaches alone. The OpenNet Initiative has been developing a mixed-methods approach to the study of information controls since 2003.