Hope and uncertainty

Abstract

This study examined how social media shaped political engagement and public discourse during Zimbabwe’s 2023 harmonised elections and assessed the implications of these elections for democratic development. Using a qualitative design, it drew on semi-structured interviews with political actors, journalists and alternative-media proprietors, alongside thematic analysis of primary and secondary sources, and was grounded in media democracy theory. The findings indicated that social media functioned as a contested, double-edged arena: it widened spaces for political discourse and helped document electoral irregularities, yet its democratic potential was constrained by surveillance, digital repression and misinformation. The study concluded that Zimbabwe’s democratic trajectory remained precarious, with digital media serving as both an enabler of activism and a site of control, and recommended reforms to protect digital freedom, electoral transparency and civic space.