Far-right discourse in Brazil

Abstract

Abstract Although it is almost common sense in Brazil that far-right leaders typically deploy impolite language as part of their rhetoric, the issue is still understudied and lacks empirical evidence. We explore the trendiest hashtags and their accompanying posts used as replies to the Brazilian Supreme Court’s official Twitter/X account between October 2021 and October 2022, which covers a year before the 2022 presidential election. After analyzing 414,652 posts, our results showed that shameless impolite language was deployed in 94.9% of the hashtags. The data confirms that online verbal attacks on the judiciary were a common posting practice on Twitter/X. The strategy’s main element has been combining impolite language with lies and manipulation to defame perceived opponents and attract followers.