Serbia’s and Brazil’s cases show that social networks can serve not only to spread propaganda and manipulate public opinion, but also to organize citizens, mobilize voters and challenge power.
In Brazil, the campaign supporting Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva used WhatsApp as a powerful organizing tool. Deputy André Janones created a channel that, according to the report, reached over 10 million followers. Through it, supporters were engaged to share messages, contact voters and help people who had difficulty getting to polling stations. The channel became a mobilization system that combined WhatsApp with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
In Serbia, students built an alternative communication network through Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, Signal and Discord. They used these platforms to organize protests, share information and coordinate their activities, without relying on a single communication center.
The “One Student in Every Village” campaign also played an important role, during which students visited more than 400 localities and spoke with over 10,000 families. Through an app, they recorded the households visited and the level of support found. Another app was used to organize volunteers at polling stations.
Both cases unfolded in a difficult environment, where there were reports of obstacles on social platforms, the spread of manipulative content and, in Serbia, documented cases of activists being monitored with the Pegasus spyware. The main lesson is that technology is not necessarily in the service of power or large economic interests. When combined with on-the-ground organizing, direct communication and citizen engagement, it can become a powerful instrument of political mobilization.