• Groups opposing the government were responsible for most of the engagement and maintained a high volume of debate throughout the weekend, reinforcing the demands of the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro;
• The government support group focused on the final moments of the protests, criticizing alleged acts of vandalism and violence committed by the demonstrators;
• In a strongly polarized debate, there was a high level of engagement on the platform around the hashtags #3jforabolsonaro (out Bolsonaro July 3rd), demanding the impeachment, and #esquerdacriminosa (criminal left), with accusations of vandalism.

Between July 03 and 04, the Saturday (03) demonstrations against the federal government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in many cities around the country were the topic of 1.16 million posts of Twitter according to a survey by the Department of Public Policy Analysis of Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV DAPP). The most intense moment of the debate happened on July 03 at night, with 55.9 thousand tweets at 9pm, with the appearance of reports and images of confrontations between demonstrators and security officers, as well as public and commercial buildings damaged during the acts, particularly in the city of São Paulo.

Evolution of the debate about the #3j demonstrations on Twitter
Period: July 03 to 04, 2021

Source: Twitter | Elaborated by: FGV DAPP

Criticism of the alleged acts of vandalism in the demonstrations shared space in the debate with posts mentioning the demands of the protests. A portion of the posts demanded the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro (no party), claiming that the Covid-19 death toll in Brazil is the result of negligence and corruption schemes inside the federal government. The most used hashtags in the debate were #3jforabolsonaro and #esquerdacriminosa, appearing in 338.2 thousand and 151.2 thousand posts, respectively.

Map of interactions in the debate about the #3j demonstrations on Twitter
Period: July 03 to 04, 2021

Source: Twitter | Elaborated by: FGV DAPP

Red – 43.3% of profiles | 49.4% of interactions
Group led by left-wing politicians and alternative media outlets opposing the government, representing the highest level of participation in the debate and sharing images of the demonstrations in different Brazilian cities and some international capitals. Reinforcing the biggest demand of the demonstrations – that is, the impeachment of Jair Bolsonaro (no party) –, the posts listed mistakes made by the federal government during the pandemic, such as nonfeasance accusations and bribes during the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines, as well as the delay to immunize the population, blaming the president for the more than 500 thousand deaths caused by the disease.

Blue – 34.8% of profiles | 41.9% of interactions
Group composed of right-wing politicians, members of the military and conservative digital influencers and bloggers, who began participating in the debate towards the end of the demonstrations and criticized alleged acts of vandalism and violence committed by demonstrators during the protests, particularly in the city of São Paulo. The profiles shared reports and images of damaged buildings, fires in the streets and injured police officers confronting the demonstrators, some of which were released by the account of the São Paulo Military Policy on Twitter.

Green – 7.9% of profiles | 3.4% of interactions
Group mobilized by profiles of ordinary users, who started participating in the debate on the day after the demonstrations to praise the engagement in the acts, contest the accusations of violence and vandalism and report arbitrary imprisonments of demonstrators. Some posts also reinforced the demand to impeach President Jair Bolsonaro due to his poor handling of the pandemic, which results in more than 500 thousand deaths, and due to high unemployment rate in the country.

Pink – 4.4% of profiles | 2.4% of interactions
Group mobilized by artists, communication professionals and politicians opposing the federal government, who positioned themselves as opposing Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, but showed different opinions about the demonstrations on Saturday, July 3. While some posts criticized the federal government’s handling of the Covid pandemic and demanded “vaccine on the arm and food on the table”, other posts pointed out that the violence committed by some demonstrators could be interpreted in favor of the current government. There were also posts demanding the president’s impeachment based on the argument that he subverted the motto in the Brazilian flag by bringing disorder and delaying the country’s progress.