The accusations of sexual exploitation in the island of Marajó have been mapped since 2018, but the topic gained national attention in 2019 after a statement of the then Minister for Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves. The topic gained traction on social media once again in February this year, after a music video by gospel singer Aymeê denouncing the case went viral. According to the analysis by FGV ECMI, influencers and gossip pages on social media drove the case beyond the traditional media outlets in 2024.
In 2019 and 2022, opinions about the case had a negative tone, since there was no evidence for the senator’s accusations and they were discussed by media outlets, feminist pages and political players. On the other hand, the findings of the 2024 analysis indicate a social mobilization around the topic, particularly of right wing profiles aligned with former president Jair Bolsonaro, who account for 45.4% of the interactions and 32.2% of the profiles discussing the issue on X between February 20 and 24. The discussion also included progressive pages and profiles who do not usually engage in the political debate, such as the singer @juliette, who accounted for 39.9% of the profiles.
The right-wing profiles accuse the left, the media, the influencers and the artists of hypocrisy for having only joined the discussion now, and for leveraging the attention mobilized by the right in order to drive an agenda of “urgency” for effective action in the Marajó Archipelago. In turn, the left has maintained its criticism of the senator, questioning the motivations of evangelical NGOs in relation to the issue and the involvement of Aymeê in the far right.
There was a peak of paid promotions on Facebook and Instagram posts related to the topic on February 23 after a debate that advanced organically on February 21 and 22, which could indicate and attempt to expand the reach and engagement around the issue. This tactic was employed mostly by Congress representatives, but media and entertainment pages also participating in the process.
However, around 61.8% of the boosted posts were taken down by the platforms for terms of use violations, which suggests that most of them were removed because they contained misleading content on the subject. One example was a removed publication previously posted by influencer Carlinhos Maia in which he reaffirmed a statement by Damares about children from Marajó having their teeth pulled for oral sex, as well as posts made by the page “Ajude Marajó”, which had 74 publications on the subject blocked, including Carlinhos Maia's statement.