A survey by the Instituto Democracia em Xeque, Estadão and the Bites agency identified the dynamics of anonymous accounts supporting the coach on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube; the PRTB candidate's campaign did not comment.

By Guilherme Caetano | 24/09/2024 | 14:30 PM

BRASILIA – Despite the Electoral Court ordering the removal of Pablo Marçal’s social media profiles used for monetization, a group of anonymous accounts continues to boost the image of the PRTB candidate for Mayor of São Paulo and undermine his rivals with millions of views. At the same time, his supporters profit from sharing cuts of the former coach’s videos.

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“Parallel Campaign: Pablo Marçal’s anonymous accounts on TikTok”

On August 24, a preliminary decision by the Regional Electoral Court (TRE) of São Paulo ordered the removal of Marçal's profiles used for monetization, in response to a request from the campaign of candidate and federal deputy Tabata Amaral (PSB). The decision was motivated by evidence of abuse of economic power and improper use of the media to pay users to produce “cuts” and publish them on social media.

Estadão, the Instituto Democracia em Xeque (DX) and the agency Bites identified accounts supporting Marçal on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok that boost the candidate's campaign offensive and offer courses on how other users can benefit from this content. The analysis of 50 profiles on each of these social networks shows how this environment of idolatry of the coach works. When contacted for comment, the PRTB campaign did not respond.

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