The Value of Freedom of Expression and Information on Countries’ Human Rights Performance: A Cross-National Longitudinal Study

Abstract

The current study explores the influence of communication variables on human rights protection. The effects of international and domestic mass communication and digital media were assessed among global social, economic, and political factors. The statistical analyses on a sample of 101 nation states over the most recent decade reveal several important findings: (a) top-down, internationally initiated human rights discourse and monitoring were not as effective as bottom-up, domestically initiated human rights dialogues; (b) access to the Internet and access to a mobile phone have different effects on human rights performance, and Internet availability played an especially important role; (c) economic development, political system, and population size are powerful predictors of nations’ human rights performance, but a large population size diminishes the effect of economic development; and (d) economic development can moderate the effect of political context on human rights performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We acknowledge the University of Southern California Annenberg Networks Network (ANN) research center for providing the core data set for this study. We also want to thank ANN members for their thoughtful comments on early versions of the manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aimei Yang

Aimei Yang (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, 2012) is an assistant professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at University of Southern California. Her research interests include international relations, public relations, strategic communication, and social media studies.

Rong Wang

Rong Wang (MA., National University of Singapore, 2011; MA., University of Southern California, 2014) is a PhD Candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at University of Southern California. Her research interests include organizational communication, network analysis, and open development.