Between Likes and Lists: Why Digital Campaigning Failed to Translate into Electoral Gains for Women in Iraq
Digital Visibility, Party Dominance, and the 2025 Proportional Representation System
Dr. Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Executive Summary
This report examines the dynamics of the digital environment surrounding Iraqi female candidates in the 2025 parliamentary elections, with a focus on how online visibility, engagement, and exposure to digital violence intersected with electoral outcomes. The analysis draws on multiple sources of evidence, including a case study of ten female candidates monitored between October and mid-November 2025, national electoral statistics of the results, a comparative assessment of the 2021 and 2025 electoral systems, and systematic observation of online engagement patterns and instances of digital violence. Together, these sources enable an assessment of whether and how digital campaigning influenced women’s electoral performance within Iraq’s evolving electoral framework.
The findings challenge the assumption that increased digital campaigning necessarily improves women’s electoral prospects. While social media platforms—particularly Facebook—were used more extensively than in previous elections, digital visibility did not reliably convert into votes or seats. Instead, electoral outcomes were shaped primarily by party strength, list positioning, and the mechanics of Iraq’s proportional representation system under the modified Sainte-Laguë 1.7 formula, which favored large coalitions over individual vote-getting.
The study also examines the nature of online discourse surrounding female candidates. Monitoring of candidates’ Facebook pages indicates that overtly abusive or gender-based comments constituted a relatively small share of interactions (approximately 4 per cent), suggesting active moderation and generally supportive online communities when it is on the candidate’s accounts. However, beyond candidates’ official pages—particularly in news outlets, partisan media platforms, and influencer spaces—female candidates were more frequently exposed to delegitimizing narratives, personal attacks, and gendered skepticism, indicating that digital hostility was displaced rather than eliminated.
