RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The last week was marked by Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter for about US$44 billion.
Musk has repeatedly said that he wants Twitter to be censor free and that free speech will be a core strategy of his buying the social media company. He also said that he will be taking control away from those who have been running Twitter for the last decade, banning all conservative or Christian speech while pretending to be “inclusive” and “tolerant.”
And on the weekend there was a movement on the social network involving patriotic figures in Brazil and the United States, which registered a significant increase in followers simultaneously.
The evaluation is from Pedro Barciela, an online social network analyst focused on politics, who conducted a related interview with the newspaper CartaCapital. The data collected by the specialist pointed out that between April 24 and 25, President Jair Bolsonaro gained 31,000 followers, 155% more than he got in the previous two days.
Other prominent figures in Bolsonarism experienced a similar scenario. Congresswoman Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) gained 23,000 new followers, 307% more than in the previous period. Representative Bia Kicis (PL-DF), 19,000 – or 368% more.
The presidential clan also surfed the wave. Councilman Carlos Bolsonaro (Republicans-RJ) gained 19,000 new followers, 358% more than in the previous period. Congressman Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) gained 17,000, 300% more.
Christopher Bouzy, a data specialist in the United States and creator of the profile Bot Sentinel, identified a similar movement: “In the last 24 hours, Democrats had a significant decrease in followers, while Republicans had a significant increase.”