International
Brazil’s dirty campaign: a disinformation guide
| By AFP |
Brazil’s election campaign has been an orgy of mudslinging, social media attacks and outright lies so outlandish they are sometimes comical.
Here is a look from AFP’s fact-checking team at some of the top disinformation techniques — none of them particularly high-tech — used in the online proxy wars between backers of far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of the country’s presidential runoff on October 30.
Quotes out of context
One of the main methods seen in the social media disinformation campaign is editing context out of video footage to make the candidates appear to say something they haven’t.
For example, a video was widely shared Wednesday by Bolsonaro backers, including influential Evangelical pastor Silas Malafaia, in which Lula says: “I have to lie. Politicians have to lie.”
The veteran leftist did utter those words the night before — but was mimicking Bolsonaro when he said it.
“Bozo (his mocking nickname for the incumbent) is a compulsive liar,” Lula, 76, said in a podcast interview. “He literally says, ‘I have to lie.’”
Bolsonaro, 67, has also been targeted with the tactic.
In one clip, he appears to say he will name scandal-plagued ex-president Fernando Collor to his cabinet to “confiscate retirees’ pensions.”
In reality, Bolsonaro was talking about a rumor swirling online.
Pink menace
Bolsonaro warns ex-president Lula (2003-2010) wants to “impose communism” in Brazil, and often points to crises in other Latin American countries as examples of the dangers of left-wing rule.
Amid signs of a new “pink tide” emerging in the region — with leftists now in power in Argentina, Chile and Colombia, among others — the disinformation campaign has cast a wide muckraking net.
One viral post accuses Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s leftist government of “authorizing pedophilia,” based on a measure that legalized marriage for minors older than 14.
But the measure was adopted in 2021, under conservative ex-president Ivan Duque.
“Starving locals attack poultry and pig farmers in Argentina,” warns another apocalyptic message, accompanying a video of pillaging that allegedly occurred under leftist President Alberto Fernandez.
In reality, the images came from the Colombian town of Puerto Tejada during protests last year against Duque’s government.
Videos from violent protests in Chile in 2019 under conservative ex-president Sebastian Pinera have likewise been misrepresented as happening under current President Gabriel Boric, who took office last March.
Fake polls
Fake opinion polls showing one candidate with a large lead are another common tactic.
Sometimes the supposed polls are completely fabricated. Other posts use editing software to change the figures in TV news reports.
In fact, most real polls give Lula a small lead over Bolsonaro.
‘Proof’ of fraud
Multiple claims of fraud went viral after the first-round election on October 2, in which Lula took 48 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Bolsonaro.
Lula supposedly won more votes than there were inhabitants in a list of cities that circulated widely. But the figures cited are incorrect, and some of the cities don’t even exist.
Other viral posts allege the vote count on election night followed an algorithm in which Lula gained one percentage point and Bolsonaro lost one-half for every 12 percent of polling stations that reported results.
But those numbers do not match actual figures.
Fake articles
Other posts copy the look of established media to spread false news reports.
The G1 news site operated by Globo, Brazil’s biggest media group, is a frequent target.
One screen capture of a supposed G1 article has Lula saying he will confiscate Brazilians’ firearms if elected.
Another quotes him as saying, “Even God can’t stop me from winning this election.”
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
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