A WhatsApp channel created to support Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's re-election campaign is being credited by allies with helping deliver one of the most unlikely comebacks in recent Brazilian politics. Brazil's left-wing president had been trailing right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, but managed to turn the race around in just three weeks. At a moment when many doubted Lula could reverse the result, a WhatsApp channel called Lula's Army emerged, and rapidly grew to 10.8 million followers.
Led by Congressman André Janones, the operation encouraged supporters to share videos, promote hashtags and recruit new voters. Its dramatic growth between the two rounds was particularly notable because it appeared to reverse a long-standing imbalance in Brazilian politics. For years, conservatives aligned with former President Jair Bolsonaro had been widely seen as dominating online political mobilisation, especially on platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
The emergence of Lula's Army convinced many supporters that Brazil's left had finally found a way to compete in a digital arena. The shift was particularly significant because social media has played a central role in Brazilian politics since Jair Bolsonaro's 2018 election victory, when WhatsApp networks became a defining feature of political campaigning. Lula's Army messages often included ready-made templates for followers to share with friends and family.
Each one assigned supporters a specific task aimed at boosting Lula's visibility on social media. Janones frequently instructed his "troops" to "blow up" the latest campaign video or help a new hashtag "take off". "Guys, urgent!", "Don't go to sleep yet", "No food before the mission!", and "I have one more task before you're dismissed", were some of the instructions.
On the eve of the election, the congressman also hosted a 24-hour live event - dubbed the "turnaround livestream" - even as polls continued to suggest a victory for Bolsonaro. The tactic worked, despite worries by some members of the Workers' Party that Janones's often-confrontational style on social media could undermine the more moderate image they hoped to project for Lula. In his victory speech, Lula referred to Janones as "our General" and thanked him for "raising the morale of our troops every day".
Measuring the electoral impact of online mobilisation, however, is notoriously difficult. While Lula's allies credit Lula's Army with helping fuel the comeback, political scientists caution that it is impossible to determine how many votes, if any, were directly influenced by the WhatsApp operation. Political scientist Denilde Holzhacker argues that a shift in Lula's campaign strategy was key to his comeback.
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