Anitta's Political Activism and Controversies on Digital Platforms: The Case of Her Support for Lula During the 2022 Elections

Abstract

During the hotly contested 2022 Brazilian presidential elections between Workers' Party candidate Luis Inácio Lula da Silva and Liberal Party candidate Jair Messias Bolsonaro, singer Anitta - one of Brazil's biggest pop singers - declared her support for Lula on her X and Instagram profiles, causing a huge backlash not only among her 60 million followers and fans but also among institutional political actors This paper is part of a broader research initiative focused on the intersection of Brazilian pop-peripheral music, politics, and activism. Utilizing the frameworks of performance dramaturgy (Taylor, 2013; Schechner, 2009) and the cartography of controversies (Latour, 2015), we center our analysis on Anitta's endorsement to explore the dynamics of political performances and activism by Brazilian pop-peripheral artists (Pereira de Sá, 2021) on digital platforms. The paper aims to address two interconnected questions: 1. How is a political performance constructed by pop artists on digital platforms? 2. How do fans react, and how effective is this performance in promoting civic engagement? We will present empirical data gathered from digital platforms, including a collection and filtering of tweets from Anitta's profile on X, along with replies and shares from July 11 to 17, 2022. Additionally, we will analyze tweets associated with hashtags such as #lula and #luladay. Further insights will be drawn from a questionnaire distributed to Anitta's fans between November and December 2022, assessing her political stance and its repercussions on digital platforms.