Algorithmic Political Exposure and TikTok Majority Demographics - Right-Wing Populist Content and Young Swedish Women On TikTok

Social media platforms are increasingly dominated by right-wing populist (RWP) messaging, often attributed to the alignment between algorithmic recommendation systems and the emotionally charged, simplified style of RWP communication. On platforms like X and YouTube, dominated by young male users - most likely to hold RWP attitudes - this dynamic is unsurprising. However, TikTok in Sweden is primarily used by young women, a demographic more likely to hold progressive views. Despite this, Swedish political TikTok remains heavily influenced by RWP content. This study investigates the extent to which young Swedish women are exposed to RWP content on TikTok using a sock puppet audit method. Artificial accounts were designed to simulate the behavior of this demographic and observed over time. Results show minimal political content exposure overall, with RWP content appearing only marginally. These findings suggest that young women are algorithmically underexposed to political content, not due to a lack of interest, but because their behavioral patterns generate weak engagement signals. From a feminist perspective, the study highlights how algorithmic systems can structurally marginalize less visible political engagement, raising broader concerns about democratic participation in algorithmically curated media environments.