Analysis: As Brazil cracks down on fake news, Bolsonaro’s new move is straight out of Trump’s playbook
Rafael S. Carvalho | The Republic | azcentral.com
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On Wednesday, Brazil’s chief prosecutor said his “national priority” is to “eliminate the use of social networks in promoting fake news.”
What follows is a partial inventory of how the Bolsonaro administration has made use of its new tools to fight the spread of fake news and other misinformation.
1. New social media tools
In the name of battling fake news, Bolsonaro has rolled out a slew of new tools to the country.
“In this country it’s very easy to make money in a fake news business. In Brazil, it’s very difficult to make money in a fake news business. So we want to change that. We have to be smart, that’s what the president said. … We’re going to eliminate fake news,” Bolsonaro said Tuesday, while at the annual G7 summit.
President Bolsonaro has rolled out new social media tools in the name of battling fake news. @RuyBastid/Twitter
2. Bolsonaro’s new Twitter account
The Bolsonaro presidential Twitter account was created on Monday, with a post that read: “President of the Republic of Brazil.”
Bolsonaro is not the first president to try to go public with his thoughts and ideas on Twitter. But he is one of the shortest hopefuls.
The other is former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who ran for president in 2002, and is currently on bail from a corruption case.
The president has a shorter timeline to go public with his ideas, and has used Twitter a few times in the past, giving him a public face for those ideas.
A day after
