You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Connected Learning Alliance Logo
  • About Connected Learning
  • Who we are
  • Resources
  • Publications
  • Blog
  • Get Connected
June 28, 2013

Social Media, Citizen Media, Online Tools Are Shaping Brazil’s Protests and Politics

Author

Raquel Recuero
Categories: Civic Engagement, Digital Citizenship
large crowd of protesters rallying in Brazil outside government building

What started earlier this month as a protest against the cost of public transportation has spread like wildfire across Brazil. One estimate said protests have taken place in 430 cities. The range of issues has grown too, including education reform, high taxes, healthcare and public corruption. I’m not sure there has ever been so much discussion about the country by so many people using social media – and it has created some instability for the government.

To begin to understand the story that is unfolding, two colleagues, Fabio Malini from the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo and Marco Bastos from London School of Economics and Political Science, and I started to monitor and collect online data about the protests and begin to conduct an analysis. It’s raw and events are still unfolding but I want to share some of the data in this post.

On June 17 and 18, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Brazil, especially in cities where games of the Confederation Cup were being held.

While the vast majority were peaceful protesters, there were clashes with police, and several people were beaten and arrested without a clear cause. Stories of people being attacked by police spread via social media and traditional media. The stories about police violence inflamed people all the more. Several hashtags emerged. Memes about the prohibition of “vinegar” (vinegar inhibits the effects of tear gas and the police started arresting anyone who was carrying vinegar) began trending. Fabio Malini explained part of this “battle of vinegar” in this post.

From the beginning, social media has played a key role. People have used Twitter to narrate the protests and to share how best to take precautions for personal safety. I plotted two graphs with the hashtag #protestoRJ used by Rio de Janeiro protesters during the June 18 event. The first graph (below) is from the beginning of the demonstration and the second one, more dense, shows activity at the height of the protest. They show how much people were Tweeting about the protest, taking pictures, creating videos, and spreading them online.raquel24.image1.600

raquel24.image2.600

As the number of protesters expanded and the volume of online activity grew, the focus of people’s demands shifted from anger about public transportation to more general complaints – for example “more health,” “more education,” and “stop corruption.” At the same time, several competing groups started countering the protests with their own issues. Mainstream media started criticizing the loss of focus.

In response to the many competing demands, several groups used social media to organize (and focus) the citizens’ demands. “Anonymous Brazil” created a video that quickly went viral, proposing five points for the protests to focus on. Facebook groups popped up, articulating proposals and priorities. New words and calls to action started to appear in social media, such as “impeachment” and “get Dilma out (the president).” For some, the president became the focal point and many people started criticizing her government and her party’s politics.

As the protests escalated, so did the violence. On June 20, while more than one million people were in the streets in several cities in Brazil, protesters in Brasilia (the country’s capital) broke into the Itamaraty Palace and set fire to the building (The Itamaraty is the headquarters of the Ministry of External Relations in Brazil). Other cities also saw a night of violence and rioting. Even though most of the violence was carried out by small groups, it had a strong impact on media coverage.

On June 21, president Dilma Rousseff made her first official remarks on TV and radio to talk about the people’s demands. She was short on details and mostly emphasized how open she was to meeting with the leaders of the protests. The president also condemned the violence and riots. While the president addressed the nation, several people started using the hashtag “#tamojuntoDilma” (we are with you, Dilma) and it started trending quickly on Twitter. On Facebook, several posts had the result of changing the focus of people’s anger from the president to Brazil’s congress. Quickly, online criticism of the president lost intensity. (Below is a graph I plotted from 18,000 tweets that used the tag #tamojuntodilma during her address. You can see, in the middle, the efforts of a small group of Tweeters who published and retweet messages supporting the president).

raquel24.image3.600

Here is another graph of some 5,000 tweets collected at the same time, with the tag #CalaABocaDilma – “shut up, Dilma” – which shows a less connected group and a more diluted focus and effectiveness:

raquel24.image4.600

Ever since, the intensity of the protests has eroded. Marco Toledo Bastos, a Brazilian researcher from London University who also has been working with me and Fabio Malini monitoring the protests, has data on his blog about some of the most used hashtags on Twitter and how the volume of traffic dropped sharply after the pro-Dilma messaging efforts.

With protests still taking place in the streets, both violent and peaceful, Dilma again addressed the nation on June 24. During this pronouncement, she proposed five “pacts” to address a portion of the protesters’ demands with the Congress, the state governors and major cities’ mayors: 1) a pledge to spend $50 million to improve public transportation; 2) a pact for a better education system; she endorsed the idea that 100% of the country’s oil royalties could go towards education; 3) a proposal to improve health care by contracting with Cuban doctors (itself a point of controversy); 4) More fiscal responsibility and inflation control; and 5) a proposal for a referendum on political reform (a change in the Brazilian Constitution). Details of how these pacts were to be implemented were not given.

Despite many skeptics, her announcement seems to have had an impact on protesters. Public assemblies started forming to make practical proposals to the government. Many of these assemblies have taken place in the same places where protests are also still happening.
There are indications Brazil’s Congress has been influenced by the events of the week. In recent days, votes on two significant issues indicate that the protesters seem to have been heard. The first vote was about a constitutional amendment that would have resulted in limiting the ability to investigate prosecutors and police for wrongdoing. Its rejection was one of the calls to action in the Anonymous Brazil video, and it was one of the consistent themes in social media and at protests. While this was previously an issue that closely divided the Congress, this time it was strongly rejected by 430 votes against, only nine in favor, and 2 abstentions. The second vote involved the use of oil royalties. While the government had previously not allocated the funds to things like education and health, that’s what the Congress voted to do this time – designating 75 percent of the royalties for education and 25 percent for health services. During the proceedings, many politicians acknowledged “the voice of the streets.”

Banner image credit: Afonso Henrique Menezes Fernandes https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=485431608200711&set=pb.100002016291762.-2207520000.1372445997.&type=3&theater

Related Posts

March 15, 2023 Mobilizing Teen-Centered Research Findings for Teen-Oriented Storytelling

March 7, 2023 Call for Proposals Now Open for the Sixth Annual Connected Learning Summit

February 13, 2023 Code for What?

Categories

  • Civic Engagement
  • Connected Learning
  • Critical Perspectives
  • Digital Citizenship
  • Digital Learning
  • Edtech
  • Educational Practice
  • Equity
  • Featured
  • HX
  • New Trends
  • Research
  • Youth Well-Being

Blog Archive

  • 2023
    • February 2023
    • March 2023
  • 2022
    • January 2022
    • February 2022
    • April 2022
    • May 2022
    • June 2022
    • July 2022
    • August 2022
    • September 2022
    • October 2022
    • November 2022
    • December 2022
  • 2021
    • January 2021
    • February 2021
    • March 2021
    • April 2021
    • May 2021
    • June 2021
    • July 2021
    • August 2021
    • September 2021
    • October 2021
    • November 2021
    • December 2021
  • 2020
    • January 2020
    • February 2020
    • March 2020
    • April 2020
    • May 2020
    • June 2020
    • July 2020
    • August 2020
    • September 2020
    • October 2020
    • November 2020
    • December 2020
  • 2019
    • January 2019
    • February 2019
    • March 2019
    • April 2019
    • May 2019
    • June 2019
    • July 2019
    • August 2019
    • September 2019
    • October 2019
    • November 2019
    • December 2019
  • 2018
    • January 2018
    • February 2018
    • March 2018
    • April 2018
    • May 2018
    • June 2018
    • July 2018
    • August 2018
    • September 2018
    • October 2018
    • November 2018
    • December 2018
  • 2017
    • January 2017
    • February 2017
    • March 2017
    • April 2017
    • May 2017
    • June 2017
    • July 2017
    • August 2017
    • September 2017
    • October 2017
    • November 2017
    • December 2017
  • 2016
    • January 2016
    • February 2016
    • March 2016
    • April 2016
    • May 2016
    • June 2016
    • July 2016
    • August 2016
    • September 2016
    • October 2016
    • November 2016
    • December 2016
  • 2015
    • January 2015
    • February 2015
    • March 2015
    • April 2015
    • May 2015
    • June 2015
    • July 2015
    • August 2015
    • September 2015
    • October 2015
    • November 2015
    • December 2015
  • 2014
    • January 2014
    • February 2014
    • March 2014
    • April 2014
    • May 2014
    • June 2014
    • July 2014
    • August 2014
    • September 2014
    • October 2014
    • November 2014
    • December 2014
  • 2013
    • January 2013
    • February 2013
    • March 2013
    • April 2013
    • May 2013
    • June 2013
    • July 2013
    • August 2013
    • September 2013
    • October 2013
    • November 2013
    • December 2013
  • 2012
    • January 2012
    • February 2012
    • March 2012
    • April 2012
    • May 2012
    • June 2012
    • July 2012
    • August 2012
    • September 2012
    • October 2012
    • November 2012
    • December 2012
  • 2011
    • January 2011
    • February 2011
    • March 2011
    • April 2011
    • May 2011
    • June 2011
    • July 2011
    • August 2011
    • September 2011
    • October 2011
    • November 2011
    • December 2011
  • 2010
    • January 2010
    • February 2010
    • March 2010
    • April 2010
    • May 2010
    • June 2010
    • July 2010
    • August 2010
    • September 2010
    • October 2010
    • November 2010
    • December 2010
  • 2009
    • October 2009
    • November 2009
    • December 2009

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our latest news and information.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Connected Learning in Teaching Practice
  • Connected Learning Research Network
  • Connected Learning in Libraries
  • Connected Educators
  • Connected Courses
  • Connected Civics
  • Institute of Play

  • Contact
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Work With Us
  • Media
  • Write for Us
  • People
  • Newsletter
  • CLRN
  • CL Summit
  • CL Lab