Fake News

Introduction
What makes “fake news” fake news?  Why do some accept it as fact while others denounce it as fiction?  Is it all a matter of perspective?  That may be the case, but these questions are not really addressed by David Nemer in his Guardian article in which he identifies three types of Bolsonaro WhatsApp users.  For Nemer, the question is:  how is social media being used to help support this guy and what is going to happen when he takes over?  This paper will provide a synthesis of the ideas discussed in Nemer’s article, assess them in terms of contributions and limitations of the author’s main point and concepts, and provide questions at the end to help facilitate class discussion.
Synthesis
There is one main argument in Nemer’s text and three crucial concepts.  The main argument is that just as social media was used to get Trump elected in the US, social media is being used to get Bolsonaro elected in Brazil.  The three concepts he focuses on are:  1) the concept of the ordinary Brazilian, 2) the concept of the Bolsominion, and the concept of the influencer.  The ordinary Brazilian is defined as “men and women from all social classes who use the groups to share the life experiences they invoke to justify voting for Bolsonaro” (p. 1).  They are not looking for debate, however; they are only looking to be part of a group that identifies Bolsonaro as the change that Brazil needs.  They believe that Brazil’s government has been corrupted by progressive liberal doctrines.  The Bolsominions also believe that, but they are more militant in their social media activity whereas ordinary Brazilians just use WhatsApp as their own echo chamber.  The Bolsominions purge the groups on WhatsApp of anyone who tries to debate them.  They are like the social media group enforcers.  The third concept is that of the influencer, who is described as being a behind-the-scenes media savant—one who can stitch together videos and take down opponents of Bolsonaro by releasing videos and memes and tweets that go viral.  With these three groups, WhatsApp becomes a way for them to gain control of the political process, apparently.
Assessment
Nemer’s argument is a bit hollow because instead of saying that the voters who are sick and tired of Brazil’s corruption are getting Bolsonaro elected, he blames social media.  He deflects from the obvious issue, which is that voters in Brazil do not like the liberal agenda and want someone in power who makes a show of loathing it as much as they do.  But in deflecting, he has to identify the real “culprit,” and so he latches onto WhatsApp, which is where voters congregate in the social media world.  If only this platform were not available to them, he seems to be saying. 
Nemer does contribute to the topic of the election by drawing attention to the powerful platform that is WhatsApp—but he is limited in terms of how he sees the role of the people who use it.  Instead of seeing them as people who are thoughtful and capable of making up their own minds, he sees them as manipulated by fake news.  There appears to be some bias in his reporting for this reason.
Questions
Why is that when anyone opposed to liberal, progressive doctrines gains traction, that person is labeled as far-right?  Isn’t it sufficient to just call the person as being on the Right?  Is the term “far” attached so as to make the person seem more extremist and therefore more of a threat to public safety?  Can’t one see that it is exactly this type of framing that makes people on the Right so ready to dump the liberal politically correct regime?
References
Nemer, David. October 25, 2018. “The Three Types of WhatsApp Users Getting Brazil’s Bolsonaro Elected”. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/25/brazil- president-jair-bolsonaro-whatsapp-fake-news. (6 pp.)