We were excited to have invited you to join us for the 7th Session of the Media Plurality Webinar Series, hosted by the CEPR Media Plurality Research and Policy Network (RPN) on Thursday, 13 February 2025, 5 PM (CET), 4 PM (GMT), 11 AM (EST).
This session featured a presentation by Professor Sophie Hatte from ENS Lyon, who discussed her paper titled Connecting the Unconnected: Facebook Access and Female Political Representation in Sub-Saharan Africa, co-authored with J. Loper and T. Taylor.
A central question guiding this session was whether social media can enhance female representation in political positions. Sophie Hatte's research draws upon data from parliamentary elections across 17 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing good insights into how Internet access—and specifically Facebook penetration—may influence societal perceptions and attitudes towards women.
Following her presentation, we conducted a policy discussion with Paula Tavares from the World Bank, who shared her expertise as a Senior Legal and Gender Specialist. Her extensive experience in conducting policy research on gender equality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America enriched our understanding of the implications of these findings.
