Digital Authoritarianism Reloaded: Russia's Adaptive Strategies of Internet Control

Co-optation is a core pillar of authoritarian resilience, serving as a long-term strategy to consolidate power and secure support in times of uncertainty and crisis. While existing literature has extensively examined the co-optation of elites and civil society, relatively little attention has been paid to how autocrats adapt these strategies in the digital sphere. This paper addresses the question: How do authoritarian regimes consolidate power online while avoiding large-scale dissent offline? Focusing on the Russian case after February 2022, we examine how the regime combined repression with both direct and indirect co-optation to extend control over two highly popular online sectors: video and messengers. Using the original database and a unique mapping approach, we analyze the evolving patterns of co-optation and legitimation on these platforms between 2022 and 2025. Our findings reveal that while direct co-optation strategies were similar across both platforms, the forms of indirect co-optation and the narratives used to legitimize digital restrictions varied significantly. This demonstrates the regime's adaptive capacity in imposing limitations on online freedoms while maintaining public compliance. The paper contributes to the growing literature on digital authoritarianism, authoritarian resilience, and Russian politics.