China has constructed a rigorous state apparatus to control its online social content. To date, research has largely focused on the central government's cyber control, but the less studied local cyberspace administrative forces are also important. Our fieldwork and interviews at a county-level cyberspace administration office (CAO) in east China reveal that the local CAO had been rendered a “toothless tiger” with insufficient technology, power and labour. However, it has made up for these deficiencies by utilizing systems such as outsourced surveillance, organized mass reporting and personnel secondment. We contend that these practices, which we label “extra-institutional governance” (EIG), emerge when bureaucracies with limited resources face external pressures. The findings shed light on how censorship machines operate in local governments in China and reveal the general dynamics of how bureaucratic organizations adapt to environmental pressures. 

中国已构筑起了强有力的互联网社会控制体系。过往文献着重聚焦中央政府实施的互联网管控手段，而同等重要的基层互联网管理尚需更多研究。我们在中国东部某省的区级网信办开展了田野调查及访谈，并发现基层网信办缺乏完成网络管控任务所必备的技术、权限和人力资源。然而基层网信办通过外包监控、有组织举报及人员借调等手段，克服了上述资源局限。我们认为，上述工作方法可被看作是“制度外治理”——即突破了原有制度化身份、制度化手段并完成政府治理目标的变通方法。“制度外治理”倾向于在科层组织面临资源困境或外部压力时萌生。本研究有助于我们了解中国基层网络治理的日常运作细节，以及理解一般意义上科层组织应对环境挑战的适应策略。