Digital religion and hybrid religious authority in algorithmically mediated environments

The rapid expansion of digital communication technologies has transformed the ways religious authority, participation, and legitimacy are produced, circulated, and negotiated within contemporary societies. It aims to develop the concept of constrained pluralization as a context-sensitive theoretical model for understanding digital religion within post-Soviet and regulated sociopolitical environments. The study argues that digitally mediated religiosity develops through the interaction of four interconnected mechanisms: platform affordances, algorithmic visibility, institutional legitimacy, and governance structures. The conceptual analysis suggests that digital platforms expand access to religious discourse and diversify communicative participation while the boundaries of legitimate religious authority remain shaped by institutional recognition and regulatory oversight. It argues that digital religion should not be interpreted through binary oppositions between institutional hierarchy and unrestricted digital pluralism. The article contributes to a more globally sensitive and theoretically differentiated understanding of how digital technologies reorganize religious authority, participation, and legitimacy across varying sociopolitical contexts.