Date of Award

6-17-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Interdisciplinary Studies

College

College of Humanities and Fine Arts

First Advisor

Christopher Gunn

Second Advisor

Richard Aidoo

Third Advisor

Jonathan Trerise

Abstract

In this research, it has been investigated that how and why youth protests were amplified by AI based social media algorithms in Bangladesh; however, their impacts resulted in occasional and isolated resistance in Pakistan during 2022-25, taking in account the differences in state regulations, platform governance, and civil society networks. While utilizing Mixed-methods approach, this study employs comparative discourse analysis, a structured survey (N=466), semi-structured interviews, legal and policy tracing, and platform data. This research has proposed a novel theoretical framework of Algorithm Regime Mediation (ARM). ARM considers platform algorithms as politically intermingled intermediaries which can determine socio-political outcomes by means of amplifying emotions, coordinating pathways, controlling the stage for visibility, and suppressing opposition within hybrid regimes. In order to develop this framework, this study also presents Algorithmic Mobilization Capacity (AMC) Index, a composite parameter measuring visibility distribution, network connections, emotional contagion, coordination ability, and capacity to withstand resistance. Outcomes provide two distinct paths. Algorithmic resonance was the result of protest factors in Bangladesh which is a cycle of mutual reinforcement wherein persistent offline collective action due to high visibility, emotional alignment, and tight network connectivity led to the stepping down of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in July 2024. However, in case of Pakistan algorithmic containment in the form of institutionalized surveillance systems (e.g., WMS 2.0), legal coercion (PECA), coordinated disinformation campaigns, and fragmented network structures systematically disrupted the transformation of digital mobilization into continued political contention. This research also demonstrates that cultural signaling mechanism, particularly music is a measurable sub-component of AMC, increases cross-network emotional bonding in Bangladesh, whereas it is more limited to enhancing intra-group amplification in Pakistan. Theoretically, ARM integrates insights from algorithmic governance, networked authoritarianism, connective action theory, and digital political economy into one explanatory model. Methodological, the AMC Index represents a reproducible analytical tool for comparative research on algorithmically mediated political contention across hybrid regimes in the Global South.

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