The Brazilian Context: WhatsApp, Activism, and Politics
Social media usage continues to grow globally, with an exponential increase in low- and middle-income countries due to technological advances allowing for people to form networks and participate in public debates on social, political, economic, environmental, cultural, and other issues [Social media, including social networks such as WhatsApp is also emerging as a key news source for populations around the world [During the 2018 presidential elections, it was noted that far-right candidates, such as former president Jair Bolsonaro used WhatsApp as the primary means of gaining political support [It has been found that the spread of fake news via social networks such as WhatsApp during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to discrediting scientific evidence and health institutions in Brazil and globally [Similar to what was seen during his political campaign, the discrediting of scientific evidence, democratic institutions, and the press on social media by Bolsonaro during the COVID-19 pandemic has been coined digital populism [Bolsonaro’s stance towards COVID-19 (including his refusal to follow the World Health Organization’s guidelines, his lack of support for social distancing and other protective measures, and his advocacy for hydroxychloroquine as treatment for COVID-19) led to unprecedented pressure on the country’s Ministry of Health [It is worth emphasizing that in Brazil, there is little popular understanding of how corruption works, a situation which has been leveraged by far-right political movements to spread misinformation, blaming past progressive governments for poor accountability in public spending [Not only has this exacerbated mistrust in public institutions, but it has been identified as a direct threat to democracy in Brazil [