Internet freedom and social media’s political consequences: Political nationalism and authoritarian orientation among six Asian societies

While extensive research has explored social media’s political effects, less attention has been paid to its impact on authoritarian orientation, a crucial form of political attitude. The rapid evolution of social media has brought internet freedom concerns—including access barriers, content restrictions, and violations of user rights—into prominent focus. However, research examining how these aspects of internet freedom interact with social media’s political influence remains limited. The study addresses this gap by analyzing representative samples from six Asian societies (Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia; N = 5,115) through multilevel modeling. Using multilevel moderated mediation analyses, we demonstrate that social media has democratizing effects that are mediated by political nationalism and moderated by internet freedom. The study extends the debate on the political effects of social media to non-Western contexts, presenting an overall positive outlook on social media’s democratic effects in East Asian societies, while detailing how these effects are conditioned by the dual impacts of internet freedom in terms of content and user rights. Copyright © 2025 AEJMC.