Memes and WhatsApp videos are ammo in Brazil pension ‘war’ room

A supporter of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro helps carry a photo of the president during a rally on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, May 26, 2019. The pro-Bolsonaro rally follows anti-government protests against cuts in the education budget as the president also battles an uncooperative Congress, a family corruption scandal and falling approval ratings after five months in office. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters have set up a nerve centre aimed at influencing social media debate over his ambitious pension reform proposal. 

The war room installed in Brazil’s Congress supplies lawmakers, analysts and even media influencers with all sorts of pro-reform material – from charts to videos to Internet memes. 

Specialists in social security, public accounts and marketing are working together in a space that’s connected to the office of Joice Hasselmann, the government leader in Congress, herself a media-savvy politician with more than 5 million followers on social networks. 

"We’re in a war of narratives, there’s a lot of fake news about social security that we need to fight,” said Hasselmann. "We need to educate people so they can spread the right information.” 

Bolsonaro’s proposal to overhaul Brazil’s bloated pension system is not only crucial for the success of his government but also for the future of the country’s economy. While the bill’s approval depends on his ability to negotiate with a fragmented Congress, his allies hope to pressure lawmakers by swaying the public opinion in favour of the reform. 

On demand 

The group of experts is ready to answer questions about the proposed changes to social security, as well as to prepare marketing material on demand. That could include formal charts explaining specific points of the reform or even videos to be distributed on WhatsApp, the messaging service that’s hugely popular in Brazil. 

The campaigns don’t necessarily excel in logical reasoning. One widely shared video entitled "Horoscope of Social Security” asks Brazilians of different zodiac signs to back pension reform and the politicians who vote for it. 

In her office, Hasselmann constantly updates a computer map showing how many fellow lawmakers are willing to vote for the legislation. At least 308 out of 513 lower house deputies need to back the bill for it to move to the Senate. 

"We know who’s on the fence and those who might change their mind” she said. Asked how the vote count is, she says it would be "amateurish” to share numbers. – Bloomberg