Platform activism and the mediation of electoral process in semi-authoritarian regimes: a Zimbabwean case study

This study examines Zimbabwe’s 2023 harmonized elections within the context of digital platforms mediation. In authoritarian regimes with tightly controlled information flow, social media becomes a crucial space for political discourse and challenging hegemonic narratives. Using data mined from X, formerly Twitter, during August 2023,this paper analyses how digital activists framed and discussed the electoral process, focusing on key discourses, influential actors, and activist media platforms. The research explores the intersection of platformization and digital activism. The study also examines the emergence of “platform journalism” and its role in disseminating election-related information. By constructing an electoral crisis narrative, digital activists challenged the credibility of the elections and called for fresh polls. Findings reveal that X users critically scrutinized the electoral process, exposing alleged malpractices and voter intimidation. This paper contributes to understanding the evolving nature of political communication and activism in semi-authoritarian regimes, demonstrating how social media platforms enable citizens to reclaim their political agency and challenge state narratives in contexts of restricted traditional media freedom.