How 'Lula's Army' WhatsApp chat helped turn Brazil election around

ByJulia Braun, Rute Pina and Luiz Fernando Toledo, BBC News Brasil, Reporting fromLondon & São Paulo.

Key points

• Sociologist and political scientist Mayra Goulart, a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, additionally cautions against attributing Lula's comeback solely to social media.
• At a moment when plenty of doubted Lula could reverse the result, a WhatsApp channel called Lula's Army emerged, and rapidly grew to 10.8 million followers.
• For years, conservatives aligned with former President Jair Bolsonaro had been widely seen as dominating online political mobilisation, especially on platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
• Led by Congressman André Janones, the operation encouraged supporters to share videos, promote hashtags and recruit new voters.
• The emergence of Lula's Army convinced plenty of supporters that Brazil's left had finally identified a way to compete in a digital arena.

Notably, a WhatsApp channel created to backing Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's re-election campaign is being credited by allies with helping deliver one of the most unlikely comebacks in recent Brazilian politics.

Brazil's left-wing president had been trailing right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, but managed to turn the race around in just three weeks. The rise of 'Lula's Army'.

Its dramatic expansion between the two rounds was particularly notable as it appeared to reverse a long-standing imbalance in Brazilian politics.

For context, the emergence of Lula's Army convinced plenty of supporters that Brazil's left had finally identified a way to compete in a digital arena. When WhatsApp networks became a defining feature of political campaigning, the shift was particularly significant since social media has played a central role in Brazilian politics since Jair Bolsonaro's 2018 election victory.

Lula's Army messages often included ready-made templates for followers to share with friends and family. Each one assigned supporters a specific task aimed at boosting Lula's visibility on social media.

Janones frequently instructed his "troops" to "blow up" the latest campaign video or support a new hashtag "take off".

"Guys, urgent!", "Don't go to sleep yet", "No food before the mission!", and "I have one more task before you're dismissed", were some of the instructions.

On the eve of the election, the congressman additionally hosted a 24-hour live event – dubbed the "turnaround livestream" – even as polls continued to suggest a victory for Bolsonaro.

Meanwhile, the tactic worked, despite worries by some members of the Workers' Party that Janones's often-confrontational style on social media could undermine the more moderate image they hoped to project for Lula.

In his victory speech, Lula referred to Janones as "our General" and thanked him for "raising the morale of our troops every day". Social media's role in the comeback. Measuring the electoral impact of online mobilisation, nevertheless, is notoriously challenging.

While Lula's allies credit Lula's Army with helping fuel the comeback, political scientists caution that it is impossible to determine how plenty of votes, if any, were directly influenced by the WhatsApp operation.

Political scientist Denilde Holzhacker argues that a shift in Lula's campaign strategy was key to his comeback.

Rather than relying solely on online engagement, she notes the Workers' Party candidate succeeded in connecting digital campaigning with grassroots mobilisation on the ground.

According to Holzhacker, the campaign intensified local efforts and adapted its messaging – linking a Bolsonaro victory with reservations concerning potential changes to social programmes and the loss of rights.

"It was to Lula's credit that he recognised his own weakness and completely changed his style, " she notes. "And Janones managed to do something that had seemed unthinkable for Brazil's left – dominate social media."

By contrast, Holzhacker argues that Flávio Bolsonaro entered the run-off overly confident of victory and failed to communicate his message to his supporters as effectively.

"It was a combination of social media and street-level mobilisation, " she notes. "The physical world enabled a form of mobilisation capable of reducing abstention and persuading undecided voters."

In her view, Lula's supporters succeeded in turning online enthusiasm into real-world political engagement.

"Those committed to Lula's victory worked to bring people together and persuade them to vote, " Goulart notes.

She argues that the effort not only supported rise turnout but could additionally prove valuable for Lula's next administration.

"I believe this collective effort was an significant learning experience and will prove valuable for a administration that still faces plenty of battles ahead. It not only supported reduce abstention, but additionally converted a significant number of undecided voters."

Lula himself suggested that the mobilisation behind his comeback could shape the way he governs in the years ahead.

In his victory speech, he remarked the election had taught him numerous lessons and pledged to change the way Brazil is governed.

"We are going to give people a greater say in decision-making, and digital communication will play a much bigger role in my government."

For now, how ' Lula' s Army' WhatsApp chat helped turn Brazil election around remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.