In the polarized environment during Brazil’s municipal elections, journalists – many of whom were women or minorities – faced disproportionate numbers of online and offline attacks.
A report compiled by the Coalition to Protect Journalism, or CDJOR, monitored hostility toward journalists between August 15, when the election campaign began, and October 27, the election date.
Findings published in December Most of the attacks in the show were on female journalists, despite women being a minority among the media persons under surveillance. Analysts say the increase in attacks underscores a culture of growing hostility toward both the media and minority groups in the country.
“We live in a very misogynistic and patriarchal culture, so it’s when women are in the public space, they gain power and are empowered,” said Christina Zehr, a member of the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. cdjor.
Brazil’s Foreign Ministry and the Washington Embassy did not immediately respond to VOA’s email requesting comment.
The recent elections were for mayors, vice-mayors and city councilors in Brazilian municipalities. The mayoral races in state capitals this year were won by the overwhelming majority of right-wing or center-right candidates. Reuters reported that the shift is indicative of a rightward trend within the country, even as far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro was ousted from office during the 2022 presidential elections.
As well as harassment of female journalists covering the latest municipal elections, black journalists experienced widespread racism, CDJOR reports.
The report cited an attack on journalist Pedro Borges, who was the target of racist comments online after interviewing a right-wing political candidate on television. Zahar, who lives in Sao Paulo, told VOA that black journalists in Brazil are often the targets of name-calling and appearance-based attacks.
“This is a way of taking away their identity, taking away their right to be a good professional and to exist in the journalism field,” Zahar said.
Similarly, attacks on female journalists often include comments on physical appearance and name-calling, CDJOR reports. Attacks on women mostly took place on social media platforms. Two out of three attacks on Instagram were on female journalists. The report found that on X it was more than half that.
Investigative journalist Juliana Dal Piva of the ICL Noticias outlet has been facing such harassment since Bolsonaro became president, who analysts say has launched “repeated and brutal attacks on journalists”.
Dal Piva said that after publishing an investigation of Bolsonaro’s leadership in 2019, he faced legal harassment and online hate attacks. He said he had also received threatening messages from Bolsonaro’s lawyer.
“People around Bolsonaro felt they had to somehow destroy me,” Dal Piva told VOA. “They couldn’t find any fault in any of my stories, so instead they attacked me and destroyed me in other ways — my reputation, my career, who I am.”
Other attack incidents occurred in 2021 and 2022, but he said the worst incident occurred this June. A right-wing influencer published a doctored image of a text conversation purporting to be a plot to arrest Bolsonaro; The online hate and threats came quickly, she said.
Via Twitter and Instagram, Bolsonaro supporters have used misogynistic slurs, made sexist comments using the double meaning of his surname and criticized his appearance. She told VOA that she also received death threats and comments telling her to take her own life.
“All the material is very misogynistic. It’s against women,” she said in a September interview with the Global Investigative Journalism Network. “For us as female journalists, you have to be strong, right? You can’t cry, you can’t be weak, you can’t be afraid. That’s not an option.”
According to Reporters Without Borders, although Bolsonaro is no longer in power, his leadership has created a “climate of permanent hostility” towards the press. Journalists are still struggling to cope with this environment, Zahar said.
“Since Bolsonaro, a red line has been crossed for relations between the president and the press,” Zahar told VOA. “And we, the media, have to learn how to deal with this situation.”
Both Zahar and Dal Piva are concerned about the future of free expression in Brazil.
Zahar said, “When you don’t have a free press, what do you have? A dictatorship.”
To improve the situation, the CDJOR report recommends that Brazilian authorities strengthen public policies to protect journalists, hold attackers accountable, and review abusive judicial practices. The report encouraged online platforms to develop more effective mechanisms to curb online attacks.