André Forastieri

There has been a sense of hope among those on the left that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory in the Brazilian Presidential election could begin to reverse a far-right surge in the country and around the world. Brazilian elections generally have two rounds of voting. In the first one, in early October, the far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro came out ahead. But, in an unprecedented three-week social-media campaign, a tech-savvy politician named André Janones enlisted millions of Brazilians to serve in “Lula’s Army.” By synchronizing their messaging, he gained an algorithmic advantage over the right-wing trolls that dominated Brazil’s social media for years. Janones’s services have been requested by the left-leaning Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who faces a tight race in late November. In France, “Janonisme” is being emulated by activists working to counter the influence of the far-right Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. Jon Lee Anderson considers the interconnectedness of political movements across the world, and how the left is using social media to counter the messaging of right-wing trolls: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/_N…