Spooked by Bolsonaro, Brazil’s left takes to social media and the streets pushing for Lula win

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — When Brazil’s presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro bested incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by more than 2 million votes in the first round of the country’s election earlier this month, the left was caught off guard.

The increased likelihood of a far-right Bolsonaro family member returning to office spurred an unprecedented engagement in digital activism and protests on a scale not seen in years, as the left mobilized in the hope of securing a Lula victory.

The huge online mobilization marks a turn for this political camp. In Brazil, but also globally, the left has struggled to compete with the far-right’s quick embrace and savvy usage of digital platforms, which experts say has had an impact on voting.

Many leftists are haunted by the presidency of the right-wing candidate’s father, Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). They recall his mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the surge in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest as well as his attempt to overthrow democracy after his 2022 defeat to Lula, which led to his 27-year prison sentence.

The recent flurry of activity has produced results. Polls indicate the race has tightened. More than 33 million out of nearly 160 million eligible voters abstained in the first round, representing a reservoir of votes that Lula hopes to tap into to reverse Bolsonaro’s lead.

On Tuesday, Lula reached 200 million interactions on social media since Oct. 5 whereas Bolsonaro had 54 million, according to Projeto Brief data agency in a study conducted for local newspaper Estadao.

Between the campaign’s launch on Aug. 16 and up to the first round, Lula and Bolsonaro had more or less the same number of interactions, according to data analytics company Bites. But since the beginning of the second round, the incumbent’s profiles received around 111 million interactions against Bolsonaro’s 31 million, the group said.

“Whether they win or lose the second round, the Brazilian left may have begun — in this 2026 election — its process of digital transformation,” said Bites director Manoel Fernandes in an Oct. 17 statement.

Congress has shifted to the right

Millions of people have spontaneously poured onto the streets in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, in what analysts say are the biggest leftist demonstrations at least since 2013.

The left’s mobilization on the streets and online has sparked a pushback from supporters of Flávio Bolsonaro, who have organized offline events and digital campaigns in response.

Both the judiciary and the legislative would be more favorable to a Flávio Bolsonaro presidency than the institutions were during his father’s term, potentially teeing up a powerful far-right presidency which could durably transform Brazil’s political landscape.

The next president will nominate at least three justices to the country’s top court and Bolsonaro would enjoy support in both the lower and upper houses of Congress after his party made significant gains in the Oct. 4 election.

That scenario prompted Carlos Eduardo Covas Costa, a 35-year-old AI engineer, to fully embrace digital activism for the first time earlier this month.

“I don’t think technology is going to resolve anything, but it’s a multiplier of our time, our impact and our ability to collect, cross and synthesize information,” said Covas Costa, who says he has been dedicating at least four hours every day to digital activism alongside his day job.

Along with other activists, he helped create the “Bora Lula” (Let’s Go Lula) platform which records events in support of the incumbent across Brazil and recommends nearby protests. The activists also create social media content that speaks to the needs of a particular municipality based on data analysis.

‘Lula’s army’ and ‘Flávio’s squad’

Lula’s official campaign has also stepped up its efforts on social media since the first round. Lawmaker André Janones assembled what he calls “Lula’s army” — a WhatsApp channel where he gives instructions for visibility gains to his “soldiers,” of which there are now more than 8 million. A similar initiative arose on the right, named “Flávio’s squad,” which has more than 2 million followers.

The left has been much slower than the right to embrace digital activism due to a resistance to Big Tech platforms, said Carolina Terra, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo’s communications and arts school.

Online activism has contributed to the size and scale of the street protests, but whether they are enough for Lula to clinch victory remains to be seen, Terra said.

“Visibility does not necessarily translate into votes,” she said.

Zeza Barral, who holds a doctorate in anthropology, also turned to digital activism after Oct. 4. She created a profile on the short-video social media platform Kwai, where she shares content — some generated by AI, but always factually accurate — designed to increase rejection of Flávio Bolsonaro. Barral’s alter ego is a lawyer, father of two and supporter of Rio de Janeiro’s soccer team Vasco.

“It gives me hope,” she said. “We don’t know what the result is going to be, but if I have even a little bit of confidence it’s also because I am doing something about it.”

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