Social media and parliamentary candidates in Uganda

Abstract Do social media offer more opportunities for parliamentary opposition and independent candidates to reach voters in electoral autocracies? Social media have been seen as a great liberation tool, facilitating the mobilisation of disenfranchised citizens. However, scholarship on electoral autocracies highlights how they are well-versed in subverting democratic innovations. Taking the 2021 legislative campaign in Uganda as a case, we show that social media offer a range of opportunities for the opposition to campaign, while also providing new ways for the regime to try to maintain its dominance. Our findings rely on insights from 35 interviews with legislative candidates combined with data collected from their Facebook pages and Twitter profiles as well as from those of their opponents. We contribute to the literature on electoral autocracy and on candidates' use of social media in electoral campaigns by identifying the opportunities social media offer for both the regime and its opposition.