Social Media as a Sphere for “Risky” Political Expression: A Twenty-Country Multilevel Comparative Analysis

Abstract

In the context of the United States, research shows a positive relationship between network heterogeneity and political expression on social media at the individual level. This study builds on that research, relying on multilevel analysis that (1) leverages a twenty-country comparative survey and (2) includes country-level data on freedom of expression. Results show a positive relationship between network heterogeneity and political expression on social media across countries, but that relationship is stronger where freedom of expression is more limited.