How WhatsApp Is Radicalising The Right In Bolsonaro’s Brazil

In their view, the only way to save Brazil is to do what Bolsonaro hasn’t: Organise an armed insurgency to completely cleanse the legislative and judicial branches of government of its past ills.

These insurgents, almost all of whom once belonged to pro-Bolsonaro groups before the election, have ironically exposed some of the dirtiest practices that occurred via WhatsApp during the campaign. Many of them have alleged that they were compensated ― in amounts between $100 to $250 per week ― to disseminate content to benefit Bolsonaro. And in doing so, they have pointed the finger at influential groups of businessmen who they said financed the network, and suggested that virtual militias ― known as the Virtual Activist Movement ― were paid to infiltrate WhatsApp groups and spread misinformation.

They haven’t directly implicated Bolsonaro’s campaign team, though they have said that at least one person who is currently an adviser in Bolsonaro’s government was among those paid to feed fake news to his supporters.

These groups, too, have made their voices heard outside of WhatsApp. They have been instrumental forces behind protests that have called on Bolsonaro to shutter Brazilian Congress, shut down the country’s judiciary and even return to military rule ― an indication of how radical Brazilian discourse has become under a president who himself has long celebrated the country’s deadly and oppressive military dictatorship.

What Now?

Only a tiny fraction of Brazilians belong to these groups, and they are not representative of all Bolsonaro’s constituents. But they all reveal ways that people are becoming radicalised on messaging apps like WhatsApp. 

As Google, Facebook and Twitter have cracked down more firmly on violent and potentially dangerous speech, consumers of that content have flocked to apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, another messaging service popular in Brazil, in search of safe spaces to find “inspiration” and become radicalised. 

In Brazil, that means strident turns against many of the traits and qualities that the country is internationally known for, including the celebration of ethnic diversity, higher rates of LGBTQ tolerance than other parts of socially conservative Latin America, the practice of African religions, and anti-gun politics. And though Bolsonaro has posed his own threats to Brazil’s environment, its most marginalised communities and even its democracy, these groups have not just bolstered him but, at times, acted on their own in dangerous and anti-democratic fashion. 

The solution to this issue requires a multifaceted response. Law enforcement and courts have to impose the law ― in many countries, including Brazil, violent hate speech is criminalised. Radicalisation can also start at an early age; thus, parents need to pay attention to what their children are doing on the internet and be ready to intervene. 

Tech companies also have to continue to de-platform these radicalising spaces and figures. De-platforming has worked at times: Facebook and Twitter have banned figures like Milo Yiannopoulos and Alex Jones, limiting their influence. But they still have thousands of followers on Telegram.

A spokesperson for WhatsApp told HuffPost in a statement: “In the run up to last year’s Brazil elections, we placed a label on forwarded messages and piloted a limit on how they can be sent. We also banned hundreds of thousands of accounts for spam and are constantly working to improve our ability to detect and ban automated accounts. Additionally, WhatsApp worked to raise awareness about misinformation through a broad education campaign on the radio, in print and online. We helped bring Project Comprova onto WhatsApp as one of several organisations conducting fact checking via WhatsApp. We will continue to expand on these efforts and work with others across society to help address the challenges posed by misinformation.”

Though WhatsApp has made changes in response to the election, it still serves as a unique platform for the spread of dangerous misinformation in Brazil and elsewhere. Radicalisation happens at high speed ― combating it requires an even faster response.

David Nemer is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia who has studied the influence of social media in Brazil’s elections. He is the author of “Favela Digital: The Other Side of Technology,” a book about the use of technology in Brazil’s informal neighbourhoods. Find him on Twitter @davidnemer.