Brazil Election: Social media plays increasing role in political fight

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03:16

This is Brazil's first election in which social media is a major part of the political match. CGTN's Lucrecia Franco reports from Rio.

No televised debates or campaign speeches, instead, social media. Since being stabbed in September, it has been Jair Bolsonaro's sole means of campaigning and for threatening his rivals in the leftist Workers Party.

JAIR BOLSONARO BRAZILIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, SOCIAL LIBERAL PARTY "If this gang wants to stay here, it has to submit to our laws, either you leave, or you go to prison. These red criminals will be banished from our homeland."

That message broadcast as tens of thousands of Bolsonaro supporters gathered at campaign-closing rallies across the country. The latest polls show the candidate known for his sexist, homophobic and racist comments has maintained his lead.

But Haddad and his supporters have fired back, saying Bolsonaro has not only used social media to spread lies, but also to spread fear and sow the seeds of violence.

FERNANDO HADDAD BRAZILIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, WORKERS' PARTY "This is a person who supports dictatorship, who defends torture and threatens not only his opponents, but also the judicial system and the free press."

Citing a local newspaper investigation, Haddad alleges a dark money campaign from wealthy businessmen has pumped millions of dollars in illegal contributions to spread fake news and memes via social media.

LUCRECIA FRANCO RIO DE JANEIRO "And just as it was in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, right at the center of it all: Facebook and its subsidiary WhatsApp."

Facebook recently removed 68 pages and 43 accounts associated with one marketing group. And fact-checkers have found that WhatsApp's 120 million Brazilian users overwhelmingly spread false information in favor of Bolsonaro.

And another recent week-long study detected almost 4,000 Twitter bot accounts, of which 70% supported Bolsonaro. Only 28% favored Haddad.

According to some analysts, this social media blitz has created a favorable persona for Bolsonaro-one that is mostly fiction.

PAULO BAIA SOCIOLOGIST, RIO DE JANEIRO FEDERAL UNIVERSITY "People identify with Bolsonaro's speech, because in terms of the imagination, of magical thinking, he solves public safety issues and placates their fear, the voter here is not voting in favor of a platform or proposals. He is voting for something he thinks will be best and each person has their own idea of who Bolsonaro is."

While the supreme electoral court is investigating bot-driven social media accounts and fake news, so far it has not taken action. And, if the polls are correct, Bolsonaro is heading towards a landslide victory.

Lucrecia Franco, CGTN, Rio de Janeiro.