The Internet Echo Chamber and the Misinformation of Judges: The Case of Judges’ Perception of Public Support for the Death Penalty in China

Abstract

In authoritarian regimes, without voting as a channel to gather public preferences, online public expression may become a major type of public opinion the government collects. However, online information can be biased and thereby mislead decision-makers. Combining data from a survey of judges and a national population survey, this article provides evidence that i) Chinese judges rely on online public opinion to infer public attitudes toward the death penalty, ii) online information is biased – online opinion is more punitive than the general public opinion, and, iii) biased online information seems to have a strong influence on judges’ perception of strong public support for the death penalty, and this may explain why Chinese scholars, lawyers, and other practitioners have persistently overestimated public punitiveness. The findings reveal a less discussed peril of the internet echo chamber: its misleading effect on the information collection process of the government, especially in autocracies.