It is widely argued that social media can benefit aspiring ______________. Populists in particular latch on to social media today as a way to connect directly with people, ______________ restraints on their behaviour that political parties would have provided in the pre-internet age. They can also profit from echo chambers, which reinforce the sense that a whole people ______________ supports a populist leader.

The passage examines how social media serves as a tool for certain political figures to cultivate support while evading traditional accountability structures. From the context, it is clear that a noun describing a type of political leader is needed for the first blank; a verb meaning "circumventing" for the second blank; and an adverb indicating unanimous support for the third blank.

Among the provided options, "autocrats" (Option C) is the only word that precisely fits the first blank, as populism particularly benefits authoritarian-leaning leaders who seek direct public connection without institutional mediation. "Entrepreneurs" (Option A) is irrelevant to the political context, "democrats" (Option B) contradict the populist dynamic described, and "anarchists" (Option D) oppose the centralised power that populists typically seek.

For the second blank, "bypassing" (Option C) stands as the optimal choice, as it specifically means "finding a way around" - perfectly capturing how populists evade traditional party restraints. "Enforcing" (Option A) reverses the intended meaning, "avoiding" (Option B) is too vague about the mechanism, and "unscrupulous" (Option D) is an adjective that grammatically cannot fill this verb position.

The third blank requires "uniformly" (Option C), which indicates the complete alignment created by echo chambers. "Presumably" (Option A) introduces uncertainty contrary to the passage's certainty about echo chamber effects, "surprisingly" (Option B) contradicts the expected nature of these effects, and "unanimously" (Option D), while close, is typically used for countable groups rather than general populations.

Therefore, Option C is the uniquely correct solution.