A WhatsApp channel set up to back Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's re-election bid is being credited by his allies with helping produce one of the most unlikely turnarounds in recent Brazilian politics. The left-wing president had been trailing right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, yet reversed the race in about three weeks.
The channel, called Lula's Army, grew quickly to 10.8 million followers. It was led by Congressman André Janones, who urged supporters to share videos, push hashtags and bring in new voters. Its rapid expansion between the two rounds of voting stood out because it seemed to upend a long-running imbalance in Brazilian politics.
For years, conservatives allied with former President Jair Bolsonaro were widely seen as dominating online political mobilisation, particularly on WhatsApp and Telegram. Social media has been central to Brazilian politics since Jair Bolsonaro's 2018 victory, when WhatsApp networks became a defining feature of campaigning. Lula's Army persuaded many supporters that the left had at last found a way to compete in that arena.
The channel's messages often came with ready-made templates that followers could pass on to friends and family, each giving supporters a specific task meant to raise Lula's visibility. Janones regularly told his "troops" to "blow up" the latest campaign video or help a new hashtag "take off". Typical instructions included "Guys, urgent!", "Don't go to sleep yet" and "No food before the mission!"
On the eve of the election, Janones also hosted a 24-hour livestream, dubbed the "turnaround livestream", while polls still pointed to a Bolsonaro win. Some members of the Workers' Party had worried that his often confrontational style online could undercut the more moderate image they wanted for Lula. In his victory speech, Lula called Janones "our General" and thanked him for "raising the morale of our troops every day".
Measuring the electoral effect of online mobilisation is notoriously hard. Political scientists caution that it is impossible to know how many votes, if any, were directly swayed by the WhatsApp operation.
Political scientist Denilde Holzhacker argues that a change in campaign strategy was key. She says Lula connected digital campaigning with grassroots work on the ground, stepped up local efforts and adjusted his message by linking a Bolsonaro victory to fears of changes to social programmes and a loss of rights. "It was to Lula's credit that he recognised his own weakness and completely changed his style," she says. She adds that Flávio Bolsonaro entered the run-off overly confident and communicated less effectively with his supporters.
Mayra Goulart, a sociologist and political scientist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, also warns against crediting social media alone. "It was a combination of social media and street-level mobilisation," she says, adding that the physical world helped reduce abstention and persuade undecided voters. She believes the effort could prove valuable for Lula's next government, which "still faces many battles ahead".
Lula himself indicated the mobilisation could shape how he governs. In his victory speech he said the election had taught him many lessons and pledged to change the way Brazil is governed. "We are going to give people a greater say in decision-making, and digital communication will play a much bigger role in my government."
