In Brazil, Lula Fights To Boost Social Media Presence

Bras�lia, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th May, 2022 ) :At a bar in Brasilia, two longtime members of Brazil's Workers Party retweet messages supporting Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on their cell phones, as part of his campaign's drive to fight the overwhelming presence of President Jair Bolsonaro on social media.

"We will not stop. Our battle, too, is online," said Ze Augusto, a retired professor, looking at his screen.

With a little more than four months to go until Brazil's presidential election, Lula, 76, has a comfortable but declining cushion in the polls.

But on social media he is far behind in popularity to the far-right president, who will probably be his opponent in a run-off on October 30.

When Bolsonaro came to power in 2018, a key tool in his victory was an adept social media campaign run by his son Carlos. It was based on propaganda, disinformation and the political destruction of opponents.

Since then, Bolsonaro has remained strong on social media, boasting a total of 47.

5 million followers on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram and TikTok. That is triple what Lula has.

Lula, who served as president from 2003 to 2010, does not use a cell phone and has taken part in five election campaigns in which social media did not yet exist. His aides decided months ago to go on the counterattack online.

It raised the number of messages the campaign sent and the interactions on its accounts. It also created profiles on new social media like TikTok and won support from famous people in Brazil like the singer Daniela Mercury and a social media influencer named Felipe Neto.

It also launched something called Lulaverso, a campaign website designed for young people, where users can join pro-Lula groups on major social media and share stickers and GIFs of the leftist icon dancing or wearing sunglasses.