FGV Comunicação Rio monitored content on abortion, drug legalization and the so-called ‘saidinhas’ (temporary prisoner releases) on Brazilian social media. According to the monitoring, there was a large volume of discussion on those topics within the opposition, although part of the progressive sector also participated actively in the debate. The study analyzed the platforms X, Facebook and Instagram from January 1 to April 23, 2024.
The debate on the ‘saidinhas’ generated the most engagement on X, with around 327,150 mentions since January 1, 478% more posts than those related to the constitutional amendment bill on drugs (56,000), and 472% more than those related to abortion (57,150). There was a protagonism of right-wing profiles regardless of the participation of Congress representatives in the discussion. The highest peak happened on January 7 due to the murder of a military police sergeant by a prisoner who was on temporary release in Belo Horizonte. In addition, the discussion at the Chamber of Deputies about suspending the benefit prompted more peaks.
The ‘saidinhas’ also stood out on Facebook and Instagram, with 5,805 and 1,957 posts, respectively, again with a protagonism of the right. On Facebook, for instance, of the 20 publications with the largest volume of interactions, only two were not made by political players or media outlets aligned with the right. On Instagram, in turn, the highlight was the participation of entertainment pages who aligned with the narrative of the right.
The discussion on the issue of abortion was driven by a technical note issued by the Ministry of Health at the end of February, which removed the time limit for the procedure cases authorized by law, such as rape. Even though the note was suspended after the negative reaction, it generated a discussion on social media where the opposition to the government stood out with 64.63% of the engagement. In turn, the profiles aligned with the government accounted for 7.38% of the discussion, and those at the center accounted for 28.97%. Names in the opposition who engaged in the debate include Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro and Carla Zambelli on Facebook, as well as religion-oriented pages. The highlights in terms of engagement on Instagram were progressive key players who support abortion, such as the federal deputies Erika Hilton and Sâmia Bomfim.
Lastly, the discussion on the constitutional amendment bill on drugs had 2,494 posts on Instagram and 6,372 on Facebook. Anti-prohibition profiles were more active in the discussion on X, including Congress representatives and organized groups against the criminalization of drugs, such as the Marcha da Maconha in São Paulo. In turn, opposition side saw the participation of right-wing hyper-partisan media outlets, such as Jornal da Cidade Online, and political figures such as Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ).