Since the official start of the election campaign on August 16, until the 30 we accounted for 161 posts sponsored by third parties on Facebook about the best placed candidates for presidency in the voting intention polls: Lula, Jair Bolsonaro, Marina Silva, Ciro Gomes, and Geraldo Alckmin. This number includes only publications from third parties’ profiles or pages, it means, it does not account for the ads promoted by the official profile of presidential hopefuls themselves. Almost all posts and ads were made by candidates to Legislative positions in these elections. While 63% supported one of the candidates, 24% decided to boost content against candidates, and 12% did not manifest any clear positioning about the presidential hopefuls.

Characteristics of third parties’ ads about presidential hopefuls

Source: Facebook | Elaborated by: FGV DAPP

Most positive publications analyzed were posted by fellow party members. They either promoted the campaign of the presidential hopeful, praising their personal figure and projects for the country, or they used the candidate’s name to promote their own campaign, for example, aligning a candidacy to congressman to the name of a presidential hopeful. On the other hand, negative publications engaged criticism against the presidential hopeful’s ethics and their political opinions, deconstructing their personal image. The neutral post mentioned the presidential hopefuls without necessarily defending or criticizing their candidacies.