The Listening Post

Brazil election: Social media content crafted for disruption

Brazil’s presidential candidates are fighting pitched digital battles ahead of the election. Plus, Nicaragua’s hostile media space.

In Brazil’s upcoming election, President Jair Bolsonaro is not going down without a fight. He has raised the prospect of electoral fraud, used old tricks from his media playbook to spread disinformation, and while the public is more attuned to these dangers now than it was in 2018, there is still a lot at stake.

Contributors:
Natalia Leal – CEO, Agencia Lupa
Luciana Coelho – Deputy managing editor, Folha de São Paulo
Juliana dal Piva – Columnist, UOL
Natalia Viana – Host, The Secret Life of Jair podcast

On our radar:

At a time when thousands of Russian men are fleeing the country for fear of being drafted and deployed to Ukraine, American whistleblower Edward Snowden has been granted citizenship. Producer Meenakshi Ravi looks back at Snowden’s journey that began almost a decade ago.

Nicaragua’s scattered journalists

Under President Daniel Ortega, once a socialist revolutionary, Nicaragua has become a living hell for journalists; arbitrary arrests, harassment and death threats have become the day-to-day norm. Producer Tariq Nafi looks into Nicaragua’s nightmarish media environment and the journalists continuing to show resistance.

Contributors:
Freelance Journalist, Nicaragua
Carlos Fernando Chamorro – Journalist and founder, Confidencial
Bianca Jagger – Human rights advocate