Excited to share our new book, "Outsourcing Surveillance: Online Public Management in China", has just been published online @CUP_PoliSci . Available for free download in the next two weeks. We study outsourcing of digital surveillance by the Chinese Party-state to private enterprises and for-profit subsidiaries of state-owned corporations. We ask why, how, and what are the implications of outsourcing of digital surveillance to monitor and moderate online public discourse. An extension of my earlier research on OUTSOURCING REPRESSION to the digital realm. "The digital age has afforded autocrats new technologies of control, allowing them to co-opt, pre-empt and repress dissent. But, what if they lack the technical capacity to access digital tools of control? In what ways have digital technologies altered the way autocrats conduct statecraft? Based on an analysis of thousands of public procurement documents, and a dozen elite interviews with various stakeholders, we found that the Chinese state has outsourced various functions of online surveillance to private and for-profit arms of state-owned corporations. We found that outsourcing surveillance is intended to augment state technical capacity to moderate and fine-tune the conduct of digital repression. Outsourcing digital repression opens a Pandora's box of state-business collaborations. This Element contributes to the literature on outsourcing repression, state‒business relations, and conduct of digital statecraft." @munkschool @TorontoSRI @UofTArtSci cambridge.org/core/elements/…

Cant wait to read this!!!!

Outsourcing Repression is also worth reading for understanding Chinese society. It explores the collaboration between the government and the people in repression, which may challenge the notion of a boundary between "government" and "citizen" that is often assumed in the West.

Book talk "Outsourcing Surveillance: Online Public Opinion Management in China" w/ Prof. Lynette Ong 🗓️Next Mon 15 June, 5pm 📌Room R201, SOAS More details and registration: tinyurl.com/4vjuacvv

I'll be giving a talk about our new book, "Outsourcing Surveillance", at the @ox_chinacentre next Thursday, June 18. Please join us! events.ox.ac.uk/oxford_event…

New Cambridge Element, Outsourcing Surveillance by Lynette Ong, Huihua Nie and Jesslene Lee, out now! Read for free for the next 2 weeks at cup.org/3S20Yzs #cambridgeelements #politics

#China #surveillance #sousveillance #privacy

Note that Outsourcing Surveillance by Lynette Ong @onglynette Huihua Nie & Jesslene Lee is OPEN ACCESS until 24th June!!😀 cambridge.org/core/elements/…

In this policy brief just published at International Journal, we looked at the implications of Trump's reelection for Canada-China relations. It drew on some of my earlier discussions @AsiaPacificFdn and elsewhere. Grateful for the feedback received. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.…

Delighted to speak to CBC News The National earlier about the significance of President Xi's visit to Pyongyang. can01.safelinks.protection.o…

Great opportunity. Those who are keen to bridge academia and policy should apply enthusiastically.

We will never forget.

Key takeaways: China's EV success isn't a top-down planning triumph you can replicate with "industrial policy." It's the emergent product of decentralized competition, regulatory arbitrage, and local-private alliances—messy, risky, and very hard to copy.

Since the mass protests of 2019, #HongKong's institutions, civil society, media, demographics and business environment have radically shifted. Join Xu Xi, @MarkLClifford, @AnnaKwokFY, and Simon Elegant to reflect on the city's past, present, and future. asiasociety.org/center-us-ch…

Today, Canadians honour the memory of all who lost their lives, were injured or went missing during the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4, 1989. Canada stands with the survivors and the families and loved ones who continue to demand accountability.

@nytimes ran a story on masking by ICE agents and asks a bunch of political scientists, including myself, who study authoritarian regimes what that means in comparative context. "In China, the security forces do not wear masks ... But something else happens. In her book, “Outsourcing Repression,” Ms. Ong explains that China’s everyday security policing force draws from ordinary people mobilized from the street and paid a daily rate or hired on a contract. The state does not formally employ them, and when they are caught harming someone, the government can plausibly say it was not responsible. China may be authoritarian, she said, but public officials can be held accountable for abuse. They can be fired, for example, if their forces are caught on camera beating people up." nytimes.com/2025/09/05/us/ic…

Recordando a Raúl Pacheco-Vega Una de las pasiones de Pacheco-Vega eran los métodos de investigación. En esta red compartía sugerencias y los libros que compraba. Este artículo muestra cómo abordaba el estudio de comunidades vulnerables. Acceso abierto: journals.sagepub.com/doi/ful…

These women have a right to mourn their children.

Me parece que ahora hay que pasar de la tristeza a la exigencia de justicia por el crimen de Raúl Pacheco-Vega, según lo consigna esta nota. No puede ser un asesinato más que queda impune en este miserable país. Ir hasta a las últimas consecuencias. am.com.mx/leon/2026/06/02/he…