In a polarized environment during Brazil's municipal elections, journalists — mostly women or minorities — faced a disproportionate number of online and offline attacks.
A report compiled by the Coalition in Defense of Journalism, or CDJor, monitored hostility toward journalists between Aug. 15, when the election campaign began, and Oct. 27, the date of the runoff.
The findings published in December show most attacks were directed at female journalists, despite women making up a minority of the media workers monitored. The rise in attacks underscores a culture of growing hostility toward both media and minority groups in the country, analysts say.
"We live in a very misogynistic and macho culture, so this is what happens when women are in a public space, getting power and being empowered," said Cristina Zahar of the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, which is a member of the CDJor.
Brazil's Foreign Ministry and Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA's emails requesting comment.
The recent elections were for mayors, vice mayors and city councilors in Brazilian municipalities. An overwhelming majority of right or center-right candidates won mayoral races in state capitals this year. The shift is indicative of a rightward trend within the country, Reuters reported, even as the far-right former president, Jair Bolsonaro, was unseated during the 2022 presidential elections.
Alongside harassment of female journalists covering the latest municipal elections, Black journalists experienced widespread racism, according to the CDJor report.
The report cited attacks on journalist Pedro Borges, who was the target of racial comments online after interviewing a right-wing political candidate on television. Black journalists in Brazil are often targets of dehumanizing name-calling and appearance-based attacks, Zahar, who lives in Sao Paulo, told VOA.
"It's a way of taking away their identity, taking away their right to be a good professional and exist in the journalism space," Zahar said.
Similarly, attacks directed at female journalists often consisted of comments on physical appearance and name-calling, according to the CDJor report. The attacks on women mostly took place on social media platforms. On Instagram, two out of three attacks were directed at female journalists. On X it was more than half, the report found.
Juliana Dal Piva, an investigative journalist for the outlet ICL Noticias, has been on the receiving end of such harassment since Bolsonaro, who analysts say made “recurrent and vicious attacks on journalists,” was president.
Dal Piva said that after she published investigations into Bolsonaro's leadership in 2019, she faced legal persecution and an onslaught of online hatred. She said she has also received threatening messages from Bolsonaro's lawyer.
"The people around Bolsonaro felt they had to destroy me in some way," Dal Piva told VOA. "They couldn't point out any mistakes in any of my stories, so instead they attacked me and destroyed me in other ways — my reputation, my career, who I am."
There were other attack incidents in 2021 and 2022, but she said the worst occurred this June. A right-wing influencer published a doctored image of a text conversation implicating her in a plan to arrest Bolsonaro; online hatred and threats quickly followed, she said.
Through X and Instagram, Bolsonaro supporters have used misogynistic slurs, made sexualized comments using a double entendre of her surname, and criticized her appearance. She also received death threats and comments telling her to take her own life, she told VOA.
"All of the content is very misogynous. It's very against women," she said in a September interview with Global Investigative Journalism Network. "For us as women journalists, you have to be strong, right? You can't cry, you can't be weak, you can't be afraid. This is not an option."
Although Bolsonaro is no longer in power, his leadership created "an environment of permanent hostility" toward the press, according to Reporters Without Borders. Journalists are still struggling to navigate this environment, Zahar said.
"Since Bolsonaro, a red line has been crossed for the relationship between the presidency and the press," Zahar told VOA. "And we, the media, must learn how to deal with this situation."
Zahar and Dal Piva are both worried about the future of free expression in Brazil.
"When you don't have free press, what do you have? A dictatorship," Zahar said.
To remedy the situation, the CDJor report recommends that Brazilian authorities strengthen public policies to protect journalists, hold aggressors accountable and review abusive judicial practices. The report encouraged online platforms to develop more effective mechanisms to curb online attacks.
