Less than four days before the second round of presidential elections on October 30, Brazilians are bombarded with half-truths, rumors and lies.
Both supporters of Jair Bolsonaro (PL, right) and Luiz Lula da Silva (PT, left) are spreading all kinds of rumors on social media without any basis or evidence.
Reports of false information from the electoral court have increased by 1671 percent this year compared to the 2020 municipal elections.
There are, for example, false claims on social media that leftist candidate Luiz Lula da Silva wants to close churches and allow boys to use the same toilets as girls in public schools if elected.
And there are many false claims that, for example, conservative President Jair Bolsonaro has confessed to cannibalism and pedophilia, among other things.
The flood of false reports prompted election authorities last week to take what many are calling the most severe restrictions on free speech ever seen in this fledgling democracy.
It’s a dilemma that social media is raising around the world, and Brazil has taken a tough stance.
Many experts believe that the authorities’ crackdown has already reached the point where it has called into question freedom of expression in Brazil.
“What’s happening in Brazil with Facebook, YouTube and other platforms is very similar to what happened in the United States in the 2020 election,” analyzed Vicky Wyatt, campaign director of SumOfUs, a US-based organization .
“An individual can post something that doesn’t attract much attention, but over time it filters down and eventually has negative consequences.”
Neither camp is better than the other.
However, Bolsonarians can be found in far greater numbers on social media than Lulistas.
According to statistics from the Igarape Institute, right-wing YouTube channels received 99 million views in the eight days before and after the first round on October 2, while left-wing ones had only 28 million.
The Supreme Electoral Court TSE, the country’s highest electoral authority, announced on Thursday that it will ban “false or out-of-context” content that could “affect the integrity of the electoral process”.
In the days leading up to the vote, outlets like YouTube and Meta (Facebook) have just one hour – much less than in the past – to remove any problematic content.
Platforms that fail to meet this deadline can be fined up to US$28,000 per hour and also blocked for up to 24 hours.
The president of the Tirana Stock Exchange, Alexandre de Moraes, said that “the aggressiveness of this information and the language of hatred” justifies the measure.
Attorney General Augusto Aras asked the Supreme Court to reconsider the measure, saying it was unconstitutional.
He argued that it amounted to “pre-censorship” and violated freedom of expression and the right to inform and be informed.
The Supreme Court considered the request on Tuesday (25).
The electoral court also banned paid online election advertising two days before and after the election.
The measures angered many supporters of Bolsonaro. Others say they are justified by the scale of the dirty war being waged online.
The disinformation is more radical — and organized — than in the 2018 presidential campaign, when right-wing groups were accused of spreading disinformation to favor Bolsonaro.
“What happened in 2018 was unclear. It was something more honest, in the sense that they ideologically believed in what was happening and created channels to be part of the conversation,” explained Guilherme Felitti, founder of Novelo Data, a company that monitors YouTube channels.
Some of these channels have turned into businesses funded by advertising and donations from the growing number of users.
Several of their creators have run for public office this year.
Enzo Leonardo Suzi, better known by his YouTube moniker Enzuh, is one of them. He launched his channel in 2015.
When Bolsonaro launched his campaign, Suzi used his YouTube channel to create several WhatsApp groups, including one called “Meme Factory,” to criticize Bolsonaro’s perceived rivals: mayors, governors and even de Moraes, judge of the Supreme Court.
He was found guilty and fined up to 50,000 reais (approximately US$10,000) five times on defamation charges.
He is also one of the targets of a Supreme Court inquiry into the spread of fake news. Authorities are working to stem the tide of misinformation on social media, but while they are better prepared than in 2018, new content and platforms are harder to control.
“I thought of YouTube as a game,” Suzi told The Associated Press.
“My plan from the beginning was to be an agent provocateur, to curse out corrupt mobsters, to sue and use that to grow.
His WhatsApp and Instagram accounts have been suspended, but not his YouTube channel, where he continues to post daily.
He ran for state deputy, but failed to get elected this month.
Bolsonaro has long been concerned that the electronic voting system is being used for fraud.
He recalled that once hackers broke into the election commission’s computer network.
The electoral court noted that the hackers did not have access to information about the counting of votes.
“Ordem Dourada do Brasil,” a right-leaning organization, released videos in which it promises to go to war “if necessary.”
He questions the electoral system and calls on people to take to the streets to support Bolsonaro.
The Supreme Court and some of its judges have also been the target of campaigns. One publication threatened judges’ daughters with violence.
Others demanded the abolition of the institution.
Last year, the court launched an investigation into a network it accused of spreading defamatory messages and threats against judges.
Police conducted more than two dozen raids and seizures.
Bolsonaro’s and da Silva’s campaigns each denounced disinformation campaigns by their opponents and succeeded in having them blocked or removed from the courts.
