Brazilian lawmaker Andre Janones built a WhatsApp channel that neared 11 million followers before President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's runoff victory, expanding the campaign's online reach, AFP reported.
After the Oct. 4 first round of voting, the channel had about 60,000 followers; by Sunday's runoff, its audience was close to 11 million, AFP reported. Flavio Bolsonaro had led after the first round, but Lula won 51.8% of the vote, according to AFP.
Called “Lula's Army,” the channel was created in April as Janones' response to the political right's strong online following, AFP reported. In selfie videos, he urged viewers to pass along messages supporting Lula and opposing Bolsonaro.
AFP said Lula credited Janones with lifting campaign morale and that the lawmaker later joined the president at celebrations in Sao Paulo. Janones was also beside Lula when the president unboxed his first cellphone.
Brazil's electoral court ordered two temporary suspensions of the channel during the campaign, AFP reported. One came after Bolsonaro accused the channel of spreading misinformation.
AFP described Lula's recovery as the first such reversal since direct presidential elections returned in 1989: no earlier first-round loser had won the runoff.
