O ativismo de hashtags contra e a favor do impeachment de Dilma Rousseff

Abstract

The impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was the result of a long and contentious process. Over the course of almost two years, Rousseff’s allies and opposition took to the streets and to social media to try to influence the process. Actors’ digital activism generated political networks based on hashtags in favor and against the President. This article analyses these networks, based on data from retweets that mentioned hashtags in favor and against the impeachment, on two days: March 13 and 18, 2016. The results show the hierarchical character of this process of message diffusion, which is concentrated in a small number of accounts. These networks, however, are part of a much more complex web of online and offline ties, which connect individuals as well as transnational groups, and which sought to influence the meanings of Rousseff’s impeachment through different digital strategies.

Keywords

• Brazil
• digital activism
• political history
• political mobilization
• social networks