The presidency of Jair Bolsonaro takes place in a period of advances of extreme right-wing populists in America and Europe. A time when the enunciation of anti-democratic speeches that promote hatred of the "other" is becoming popular. A popular exclusion of those pointed out as non-members of the community. For the same reason, Bolsonaro's triumph cannot be read as an extraordinary moment. When the Brazilian candidate launched his campaign, four years had already passed since Victor Orbán - President of Hungary - had expressed the "illiberal" nature of his regime. While in the north of the continent, Donald J. Trump was enjoying great popularity (41%1) during his second year in office. However, we should not overlook the fact that populist triumphs are also rooted in economic crises.
A major difference with respect to the fascism that rose to power in Europe a hundred years ago lies in the way in which the extreme right achieves power. Now it no longer does so through the apology of violence as a means of legitimate ascent to power, but through the seduction of citizens who democratically choose intolerant positions based on the constitution of a public enemy that threatens the nation. This occurs during what seems to be the end of neoliberalism and its substitution by a new stage of capitalism - where, in spite of the growing and evident threat to life that constitutes the unlimited exploitation of the planet - leaders emerge who appeal to the future by going back to the past.
Bolsonaro is part of a new political current. Aided by social networks -which in his first moments seemed to be weapons of the utopia to be built- he was able to captivate voters. Thus, in this society, democracy is shown as a ship that sails towards a better society; but in its voyage it finds a song that fascinates it and drags it along. With no strings to bind it, it celebrates a dismal feast that leads to the exclusion of the other: the triumph of anti-democracy.
In this transition, social networks play a central role. From there, strategies are generated that appeal to the sensitive experience of citizens but do not seek to build communities. On the contrary, they generate a greater distance between citizens and group them in antagonistic sides that confront them. The more intense the hatred, the greater the interactions. Democracy is a dream of modernity that seeks through rationality to achieve a balance between individual desires and what benefits the community. The democratic challenge consists precisely in achieving the triumph of the community over individual selfishness. For Tonnies, the constitution of a community depends on its capacity to constitute a lasting and authentic common life. A challenge that modern democracies have not been able to meet. On the contrary, social networks appeal to emotionality and seek to absorb the time of individuals in order to commodify it in the sale of "clicks" and "views". Away from the common and where the community is conceived as an evanescent numerical abstraction.
Jair Bolsonaro's first campaign
The context of the 2018 presidential campaigns is politically marked by corruption accusations against prominent members of the Workers' Party (PT). Which forced the incumbent president Dilma Roussef - who was relieved in office by her vice-president Michel Temer - and resulted in the arrest of the popular former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also known as Lula, in jail. In economic terms in a deep economic crisis of more than five years and in the middle of the biggest recession of the last decades. In addition to an increase in the lethality of violence reaching a peak of 60,000 deaths per year. And although the political use of justice to attack the PT was later shown, during the 2018 campaigns, the indignation of Brazilian society against the corruption of the political system and the hope for change, generated the conditions for the rise of a politician associated with an authoritarian vision that offered to solve all problems based on a return to traditional values along with law and order.
Brazil above all, God above all
Bolsonaro begins his participation in public life -still active in the armed forces- through an article published in the magazine Veja where he criticizes the low salaries paid by the army to its members. A criticism that earned him a fourteen-day imprisonment. Later he was pointed out as one of the members of a conspiracy to explode a military garrison and although he was not condemned, he soon became part of the reserve army. This was the beginning of his political career from which he promoted improvements in the living conditions of the army; either more benefits for retired officers or better benefits for the troops.
Bolsonaro's political career begins with marginal political positions. The first party where he militates in the Christian Democratic party. However, his main support is his contacts with the army and his concern for the living conditions of soldiers. A closeness that is also based on his ideological position. Since he always claimed the dictatorship as a moment of order and progress for Brazil. Even with reckless statements such as promoting the use of torture and the abolition of Congress to install a military junta. Later he also added to his political arsenal the condemnation of homosexual marriage and sex education.
The triumph of the PT, hand in hand with Lula, succeeded in promoting policies against the marginalization of Afro-Brazilians; it promoted sex education and sought to respect the rights of gender dissidence. For the same reason, Bolsonaro, who until then had been considered an anachronistic politician, became the spokesman of the Brazilian elites who sought to confront the vindicatory transformations promoted by the ruling Workers' Party. For he dared to verbalize the anti-democratic prejudices of the conservative elites in the interior of the country. In the same sense, we can point out his opposition to the support to the Afro-Brazilian communities, whom he branded as living on subsidies without doing anything. Likewise, he was strongly opposed to the sexual education plans which he called the "gay kit"; which brought him closer to the powerful Brazilian evangelical churches. Also his adoration of militarism, in opposition to the arms control promoted by progressive governments, and his unrestricted support for entrepreneurial freedom was a siren song for those who longed for the economic progress produced by the military dictatorship and for the small and medium cattle ranchers who saw in his proposal a government tolerant to the transformation of the Amazon jungle into a grazing area. Paradoxically, the triumph of the progressive policies of the PT created a reactionary wave that raised Bolsonaro to the top: a candidate who openly fights to maintain the conditions of oppression.
A central element in Bolsonaro's rise has been his ability to instrumentalize social networks to promote his discourse. From there he has managed to promote a discourse based on conspiracy theories. Where there is a heterogeneous conspiracy from which they seek to destroy the values of the Brazilian nation. In Jair Bolsonaro's first campaign, during 2018, not only were used channels of dissemination and interaction in the socio-digital space such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook; in addition that he also managed to consolidate a network of more than 40 thousand Whatsapp groups. In them, an army of Bolsominions -the term by which his most passionate supporters were known- spread his message in a "direct" way to the voters.
During this first campaign he suffered an assassination attempt that was recorded and disseminated on social networks. In this way, Bolsonaro managed to occupy a privileged niche during the campaign; since the rest of the candidates, worried about being branded as debased, reduced their criticisms to the convalescent candidate. He took advantage of this new media boost to his campaign from the socio-digital networks. Now free from the obligation to attend any debate or adverse scenario, Bolsonaro's campaign managed to boost the candidate without any restriction.
The anti-democratic campaign of Jair Bolsonaro
During the 2018 presidential campaign in Brazil, the socio-digital networks formed a space for the dissemination of Jair Bolsonaro's message that made it easier for him to upset the traditional political balance. Until then, television networks played a transcendental role in the mediation between the electorate and the presidential candidates. Therefore, the support of these corporate media groups played a central role in defining the political order. However, the arrival of socio-digital networks allowed marginal politicians to contact the electorate in a "direct way". This made it possible to promote anti-democratic messages that could hardly be enunciated in the traditional media. Such is the case of Jair Bolsonaro who, based on a message of hate and order, managed to obtain the majority of votes during the 2018 presidential election.
Campaigns in socio-digital networks are not restricted to a single platform or media. On the contrary, there are feedback loops between the networks and the different media to constitute the communication phenomenon that can influence the agenda of the mass media. At the level of the citizen, it is not only about socio-digital platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube but also messaging groups (Whatsapp and Telegram) where images can be launched that could hardly be disseminated in the mass media. Therefore, although for analytical reasons the different platforms will be exposed in this paper, it is necessary to consider that they do not operate separately but are articulated for the constitution of the candidate's anti-democratic political message.
During this first campaign, the candidate used Twitter (Figure 1) as a way to spread his message in a "direct" way. These messages were not only disseminated in this network but were also taken up by the different Whatsapp groups to spread among the population. In this section we will analyze the discourse of the 4,324 messages published on the Twitter platform issued by Jair Bolsonaro's account on this platform. Within this platform, messages are not only disseminated from the account of the then candidate but also from other "allied" accounts that help the dissemination of these messages.
Figure 1
Frequency of type of messages associated with Bolsonaro's Twitter account during the 2018 presidential campaign.
A candidate's messages are not limited only to the direct audience of his account on the Twitter platform; on the contrary, these messages are re-disseminated from "allied" accounts that allow the expansion of his communication. Within this first campaign we identified under the #SomosTodosBolsonaro, #Bolsonaro17 and #BolsonaroAmorDoBrazil to the participation of accounts linked to a right-wing ideology: Delegate Francischini (@Francischini_); Say no to corruption - Corruption no (@corrupcaonews) and Patrick Dornele(@PatrickDornele).
Figure 2
Diffusion network graph ?Bolsonaro Network? during the 2018 election.
(nodes=15,796 and edges= 25,016)
Figure 3
Main broadcasting accounts ?Bolsonaro Network?
A central element within an antidemocratic vision consists in thinking of the electoral confrontation as a war. Where the other is an enemy that must be destroyed. An approach opposed to the democratic value of settling differences within a legal framework. In the case of Bolsonaro the election is posed as a "holy war" where the aim is to "save" the "soul" of the nation. This strategy clearly appeals to emotions and promotes a confrontation between political identities which reaffirms the vision of war and where governmental programs no longer matter. In this way, the candidate's inflammatory speeches conceive a Brazil oriented by traditional values and the recovery of the economy against a nation that was destroyed by the corrupt politicians of the labor party. This perspective is found in the campaign slogan that accompanied him: ?¡!Brasil acima tudo deus acima de todos(Brazil above all and God above all).
Figure 4
Jair Bolsonaro's Twitter speech placements of the terms: Brazil and Deus
The analysis of Figure 4 allows us to observe the connection between Bolsonaro's political discourse and religious discourse. Where the figure of God (Deus) plays a central role. Since both this religious element and the militia appear to be associated with the transformations that are proposed for the future of Brazil. Therefore, the rescue consists in appealing to the recovery of traditional values - where in an antidemocratic way the rights of gender dissidence are restrict - and order by appealing to a greater participation of the armed forces in public life.
Figure 5
Jair Bolsonaro's Twitter speech placements of the terms: hatchlings and carcasses
While in Figure 5 we can see how it is built on the left (left) as a double threat: an enemy to be destroyed. On the one hand, they are singled out for their corruption, which they consider a central cause for the destruction of the country's economy, supported by a global lobby that seeks to institute communism in Brazil. At the same time, they are considered a threat to the youth because they seek to "turn" young people into homosexuals through sex education. All these messages reproduce a perspective of war between two divided societies that must confront each other by encouraging polarization and avoiding democratic dialogue and tolerance to other voices.
Figure 6
Images disseminated on Twitter during the 2018 campaign.
Closed groups on Facebook, Whatsapp and Telegram allow the dissemination of more aggressive messages. Since they do not allow the response of political adversaries. Therefore, fake news and information that seeks to degrade the adversary is disseminated more in these types of forums than on platforms such as Twitter where it is possible for the adversaries to reply. However, the use of this type of spaces degrades democratic dialogue, since it only repeats slander without contrasting the facts and contributes significantly to the polarization of the electorate.
Figure 7
Images disseminated on Facebook during the 2018 campaign.
Bolsonaro President
Bolsonaro's triumph at the polls was accompanied by the exaltation of his followers who proclaimed: We are going to change Brazil! As well as by a television message from the triumphant candidate, from Rio de Janeiro, where after praying to God he promised to put an end to corruption. A celebration that contrasted with the diagnosis of analysts who saw a risk for democracy with the rise of an extreme right-wing populist to the presidency of Brazil.
The first action as President was to transfer control of reserves for native peoples to the Ministry of Agriculture. An institution controlled by agribusiness interests. An event that marked the policy in favor of private enterprise to the detriment of the Amazon reserves. This situation was underscored by the approval of the use of pesticides, until then prohibited in the agricultural industry. In addition to the passivity in the face of the fires provoked in the Amazon rainforest, which opened new spaces for cattle ranching. In the same sense, only a few months after the beginning of his mandate, the deforestation of the Amazon reached its highest level. This situation caused alarm at the international level, but not for the Brazilian government.
From the beginning, the government of the ex-military officer was marked by social tensions. Pro-Bolsonaro evangelical groups sought to bring their message of evangelization and the recovery of traditional values to the Rio Carnival. While groups antagonistic to Bolsonaro sought to make visible the risk situation for women, sexual dissidents and activists through their participation with political messages in the Carnival itself. Even the President himself participated in this dispute by condemning the traditional festivity as an act where values contrary to the traditional family are promoted. However, all this growing tension would be put on hold with the arrival of Covid-19.
Throughout most of the pandemic, like other right-wing populist leaders, Bolsonaro dismissed the seriousness of the situation. In this case, it all started with a bitter disagreement with his own health minister. For while the President sought to keep the economy open; Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta pointed out the importance of prioritizing life over economic activity. Statements for which the Minister was deposed. Due to the lack of sanitary measures, Brazil was one of the countries with the highest mortality rates in the region during the pandemic. This provoked a strong rejection of the president among the population. For the same reason, street mobilizations were organized calling for his dismissal.
Thus, in the last part of his term and while seeking reelection, Bolsonaro faces corruption scandals that have been accumulating since the first months of his government; the scandals for his actions during the pandemic and, as if this were not enough, the resurgence of Lula, who after his release from prison, is once again the favorite to occupy the presidency of Brazil. For the same reason, the closing of the ex-military's government shows an opposite facet to the moments of hope that marked his election for his followers.
The anti-democratic presidential discourse in socio-digital networks
During his presidential term, Bolsonaro used the socio-digital networks as an instrument to disseminate his government policy and, at the same time, to maintain "direct" contact with his supporters. In this way, social networks ceased to be a campaign instrument and became an instrument of government. However, Bolsonaro's discourse - especially during his presidential term - is not limited to that of Jair Bolsonaro himself. Often the ideology is embodied in his allies rather than in the official discourse.
Jair Bolsonaro's triumph also implied changes in his discourse. During the campaign -as previously pointed out- he had as a central focus the "war" for the nation. This also implied the idea of a national reconciliation based on the purification of the national body. While as president, the bill became the main instrument to disseminate his government actions, maintaining a close relationship with the citizens. In Figure 8 we can observe how in the candidate stage the term love appears, but also the terms lula, dilma and corrupt. While the first one refers to his proposal of conciliation, the other three terms are the accusations to his corrupt political enemies.
Figure 8
Comparison of top ten terms
Figure 9 allows us to observe the network of actors who spread Bolsonarism in networks. Precisely these actors take more offensive positions than the candidate himself and promote "difficult" issues for the president; but significant for the base of supporters. Among them are Bibo Nunes (@bibonunes1) with 292 thousand followers, Te Atualizei(@taoquei1) with 1.3 million followers and Bia Kicis (@Biakicis) with 1.4 million followers.
Figure 9
Network of main Twitter broadcasters of Jair Bolsonaro's message during his presidential term
We will start with Alcibio Mesquita Bibo Nunes (known as Bibo Nunes) is a politician-entrepreneur who began his career as a journalist. Subsequently, he starts his political career to become one of Bolsonaro's main allies, as a promoter of mass surveillance systems, amnesty to illegal loggers in the Amazon rainforest, attacks on the opposition for its alleged communism, against the rights of sex-gender dissidence and promoter of economic reactivation during the COVID-19 pandemic (Figure 10). While a comparison of terms used between Jair Bolsonaro, during his presidency, and Bibo Nunes (Figure 11) shows us that while the former maintains a discourse that highlights his actions; the latter maintains his aggressiveness towards opponents of the regime. This can be seen in the high frequency of the terms Lula and urubus. The former refers to the former president and determined opponent of Bolsonaro and the latter to the phrase with which he denigrates the opposition: ?lloren buitres? (chorem urubus de plantao).
Figure 10
Tweets issued from the account @bibonunes1
Figure 11
Comparison of frequently used terms
While the account Te Atualizei is dedicated to the promotion of a right-wing ideology mainly focused on the denigration of the rights of sexual-gender dissidence. This account, associated with a YouTube channel with 1.7 million subscribers and a paid service (teatualizei.app), has as its main protagonist the youtuber and blogger Barbara Destéfani. She is known for being a fervent supporter of Jair Bolsonaro and has used the channel to promote an anti-vaccine policy and fake news about opponents of the right-wing government. This has earned her an investigation by the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court. In the comparison of terms between Jair Bolsonaro's account, as president, and Teatualizei's account, we find that the former maintains its emphasis on governmental actions. While the second is an account whose main words are focused on messages that frame what the account retweets such as ?mira? (olha), ?vamos? (bora) ?vou? (voy). At the same time, it maintains a common tone in the use of emotional expressions, which are emphasized with the repetition of letters in messages such as: aaahlindo, aaaahhh or aaaiiin (Figure 12).
Figure 12
Tweets issued from the account @taoquei1
Figure 13
Comparison of terms
Beatriz Kicis Torrents de Sordi, Brazilian politician known as Bia Kicis, who seeks a reform in the Brazilian educational system that promotes a right-wing ideology, normalization of gun ownership and religious fundamentalism (Figure 13). She promotes the rejection of any family planning measures and the promotion of the traditional family. During his political campaign he has spread fake news about the association between Lula and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC); as well as about the dangerousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case of the comparative of terms between the account of Jair Bolsonaro president and Kia Bicis (Figure 14) we identify that as with the other accounts, Bolsonaro assumes an institutional role focused on the dissemination of his governmental actions. While the Bia Kicis account has a more aggressive role where it maintains the importance of the term Lula, former president opposed to Bolsonaro, in his speeches; it also appears the term fake news which is used to denigrate news that demerit the right wing and finally, the term retrospective that points to a highly biased news summary that Bia Kicis herself disseminates from her account. They also share the use of terms where the right wing victimizes itself despite being in political power as below tyranny (abaixotirania) despite being government and down with censorship (abaixocensura).
Figure 14
Tweets issued from the account @BiaKicis
Figure 15
Comparison of terms
In Jair Bolsonaro's discourse we find two moments. The first is as a candidate where his account plays a fundamental role in the dissemination of an anti-democratic right-wing discourse. There, he accuses PT members of being a corrupt elite that seeks to corrupt the family by promoting homosexuality. He also clearly assumes a developmentalist position that puts the Amazon rainforest at risk. However, once he assumes the presidency, his account becomes more institutional and his discourse focuses on promoting the achievements of his government. Therefore, the most Bolsonarist discourse is spread from "allied" accounts that continue to openly promote hatred towards the PT, accusing them of promoting the genocide of unborn children, an education that promotes homosexuality and goes against the values of Brazilian families.
Thus, we can point out that Jair Bolsonaro during his time as presidential candidate raised anti-democratic values that were embodied in a discourse that posed the election as a war against the corrupters of the nation. A discourse that facilitates his alliance with the evangelical churches by raising the traditional family as the official model and a great closeness with the business elites by allowing the exploitation of new spaces for cattle raising. Finally, the constant construction of the PT, and particularly Lula, as the corrupt enemy to be destroyed is maintained.
For the same reason, democracy suffers clear attacks on two fronts. First, by confronting political rivals as enemies and not as adversaries. This promotes the polarization of society and intolerance of others. This generates an environment where violence can easily arise at any level of society. Second, it seeks to impose a vision of the family on gender dissidence. For the same reason, it fails to uphold the democratic value of respect for the opinion of others. Since it seeks to force gender dissidents to submit to the values of the traditional family by not recognizing their way of life.
The rise of anti-democratic far-right discourse in Brazil is part of a renewed wave in the Americas and Europe. Where democracy has failed to sustain its promise of development for all. For the same reason, the speeches against it have resonance in a population tired of not obtaining the benefits accumulated by a few. Paradoxically, however, the population chooses a government option that historically benefits only a few. The socio-digital networks that allow an "unmediated" contact between the population and the messages of the candidates play a fundamental role; since they become a space where everything can be said without any measure. For the same reason, speeches that until now were considered unspeakable can be said without any restriction. Speeches that appeal to the frustration of the population to achieve their electoral triumphs without proposing any real alternative of government.
[1] Gallup (https://news.gallup.com/poll/203198/presidential-approval-ratings-donald-trump.aspx) conducted surveys throughout Donald Trump's term in office. On average it had an approval rating of 41% and reached its highs (49%)during 2019; while its lows (31%) were in early 2021.
Eduardo Paz D. in Social and Political Sciences from the Universidad Iberoamericana. He is currently a visiting professor at UAM-AZC. He has postgraduate studies at UNAM and Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
You may be interested in: The Little Mermaid
