Mariëlle Wijermars examines how authoritarian states such as Russia attempt to influence and restrict the online dissemination of information. She considers policy, the role of national and international platform companies and technological systems, and how all of these factors interact. Why do some authoritarian states succeed in pressuring foreign social media to censor online content, while others do not? And what is the impact of ‘invisible’ forms of censorship, for example influencing search engine hits about political topics?