Abstract

LLANOS, Mariana  and  WEBER, Cordula Tibi. High courts and social media in Latin America. Rev. Urug. Cienc. Polít. [online]. 2020, vol.29, n.1, pp.15-48.  Epub June 01, 2020. ISSN 0797-9789.  https://doi.org/10.26851/rucp.29.1.2.

In this article we take a first step towards understanding the use of social media by constitutional and supreme courts in Latin America. Some Latin American courts stand out worldwide for their active online presence. We present the first comparative evaluation of the social media presence of 17 Latin American high courts. We evaluate the intensity of the current use of the most relevant online platforms - Twitter, Facebook and YouTube - and explore the level of influence each court has developed in these networks. As a result, we present a classification of the courts that emphasizes that there are performance differences: the most influential courts are not necessarily the most active ones, but they make a very differentiated use of social media. In contrast, the least influential ones show great dispersion around the level of activity. Additionally, we present a preliminarily evaluation of the relationship between the level of trust in the judiciaries and both the intensity of the use and the level of influence of courts in social networks. We see that courts with higher levels of distrust are moderately more active and tend to have less influence. Two motivations could explain the court behavior in social media: First, the search for strategic self-promotion. Second, an ideal of institutional transparency.

Keywords : constitutional and supreme courts; institutional legitimacy; social media.

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