Volume 24, Number 2 (2025)
Published Dec 31, 2025 · 3 articles
Research Article · pp. 1-27
State Platforms and Algorithmic Governance: The Political Economy of China's City Brain ProgramsWei Zhang
City Brain programs promise algorithmic optimization of urban governance. Based on policy documents and interviews across five Chinese cities, this article traces how municipal governments, platform firms, and citizens negotiate data infrastructures. We argue that City Brains institutionalize a distinctive mode of state–platform co-governance with implications for smart-city research across Asia.
algorithmic governanceChinasmart citiesplatform politicsurban studies
Research Article · pp. 28-55
K-pop Fandom as Transnational Civic Practice: Digital Activism of Southeast Asian ARMY CommunitiesSiti Rahmah, Grace Lim
Southeast Asian K-pop fandoms increasingly mobilize for civic causes. Analyzing 1.2 million tweets from Indonesian, Malaysian, and Filipino ARMY communities, we document repertoires of hashtag activism, charity brokering, and electoral monitoring. The study theorizes fandom as an infrastructure for transnational civic practice in the region.
K-popfandomdigital activismSoutheast Asiasocial media
Research Article · pp. 56-84
Cross-Strait Information Warfare: Narrative Networks in Taiwanese Social Media before the 2024 ElectionYi-Chen Wu
This article identifies coordinated narrative networks circulating cross-strait content on PTT, Facebook, and LINE in the six months before Taiwan's 2024 presidential election. Combining network analysis with qualitative frame analysis, we distinguish organic skepticism from coordinated amplification and assess the reach of both into mainstream discourse.
information warfareTaiwandisinformationnetwork analysiselections