Haddad accuses his rival Bolsonaro Whatsapp's campaign against him

In Brazil, a debate about a possible manipulation of social media has erupted.

19.10.2018, 4:10 am

Fernando Haddad, candidate of the Left Labor Party (PT), at an event with pastors in São Paulo on 17 October. (Image: Amanda Perobelli / Reuters)

(AFP) The leftist candidate for the Brazilian presidency, Fernando Haddad, has accused his right-wing populist competitor, Jair Bolsonaro, of campaigning for the Whatsapp messaging service. Bolsonaro had founded a "criminal organization" with companies.

With this and with "dirty money," he wants to spread fake news about Whatsapp, Haddad wrote Thursday in the Twitter short message service. At least this is the beginning of a debate in Brazil on a possible manipulation of voters via social networks.

At a press conference in São Paulo, Haddad said that hundreds of thousands of messages had been sent to voters about Whatsapp, "utterly false" to influence the elections. The candidate of the Workers Party (PT) of the former head of state, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, announced that it would involve the Brazilian Federal Police and the country's electoral justice system.

Indirect electoral financing?

Earlier, the respected newspaper "Folha de São Paulo" had reported that companies had funded the mass mailing of Whatsapp information against the workers' party before the first round of voting on October 7. Contracts have been concluded for this campaign with a value of approximately 3 million francs per contract.

Recipient contact details were provided by the Bolsonaro campaign team or purchased from specialized agencies, the paper said. Before the second round of elections, on October 28, a new offensive is planned.

Jair Bolsonaro's press address in Rio de Janeiro on October 17. (Image: Marcelo Sayao / EPA)

The allegations are cumbersome: in Brazil, a campaign of financing by companies is prohibited. Bolsonaro's lawyer, Tiago Ayres, dismissed the charges Thursday: there was no evidence linking the Bolsonaro campaign team to companies named by the "Folha de São Paulo".

Bolsonaro himself tweeted that the workers' party did not suffer from false news but from the truth.

Disadvantage in social media?

Whatsapp is widely used in Brazil and has at least 120 million users. The right-wing populist Bolsonaro, also known as "Donald Trump of Brazil", is much more present on social networks than his rival Haddad and bases his election campaign significantly on the Internet.

Bolsonaro had clearly won the first round of the presidential election on October 7: it reached about 46%, far ahead of Haddad, second, with about 29%. For the second round of elections in a week and a half, the populist on the right is the favorite.