Abstract
How does the internet affect government approval? Using survey data of 840,537 individuals from 2,232 subnational regions in 116 countries from the Gallup World Poll and the global expansion of 3G networks in 2008-2017, we show that an increase in internet access, on average, reduces government approval and increases the perception of corruption in government. This effect is driven by countries without online censorship and is particularly pronounced in developing countries. Corruption scandals have a stronger impact on perceptions that the government is corrupt in places with higher 3G coverage. The expansion of 3G networks also has political effects: it results in better electoral performance of anti-establishment populist parties in Europe.