Digital popularity: Dino shoots and overtakes Haddad – 04/13/2023 – Politics

Evidence of actions by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and clashes with opponents, Flávio Dino became the most popular minister on the internet among the holders of the Esplanada in the Lula government, according to the IPD (Digital Popularity Index).

The indicator, which varies from 0 to 100, is calculated daily by the research and consulting firm Quaest.

In the first three months of the year, Fernando Haddad (Farm) was the one with the highest score in the indicator. Although he held his own high, he was overtaken by Dino this month.

The Minister of Justice’s IPD began to soar in March. From 53 in February, it went to 61 in March and jumped to 73 in April, when the government completed one hundred days.

It was in March that the Federal Police, under Dino’s portfolio, took action to dismantle a plan by the PCC criminal faction to attack authorities and in which Dino went viral on the internet with mocking and “tearing” responses to opponents at a hearing at the CCJ (Commission for the Constitution and Justice).

In one of the most replicated scenes, the minister is falsely accused by Deputy André Fernandes (PL-CE) of responding to more than 200 lawsuits in court, according to research that the politician said he had done on a legal website.

Dino then responds ironically. “A member of the CCJ saying that he researched in Jusbrasil: I’m going to tell my students as an anecdote, as a joke. You have just entered my memoirs”, he says.

Since the beginning of the government, Dino has participated with declarations or announcements of the government’s reaction to events that marked the period, such as the coup attacks in Brasília, the debate on the regulation of social networks and violence in schools.

For Felipe Nunes, director of Quaest and professor at UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais), the minister’s performance shows that it is possible for the Lula government to guide the networks without adhering to traditional Bolsonarism methods, such as fake news and statements that seek to divert focus on important topics.

On the other hand, he claims that the protagonism of a minister who is not even from the PT casts doubt on the Lula government’s communication strategy for the internet. Dino is affiliated with the PSB.

Nunes also highlights the maintenance of Haddad’s good level in the IPD (66 points).

In his view, the minister managed to consolidate, both inside and outside the government, the image that he holds control of the economic area even under friendly fire from the PT, after an initial doubt that this role could be shared with the party’s president, Gleisi Hoffmann , or the president of BNDES, Aloizio Mercadante.

Nunes highlights as Haddad’s victories the return of taxation of PIS/Cofins on gasoline, the relative good reception of the fiscal framework and the redress made by Lula in the government’s 100-day balance sheet meeting.

“Haddad, from time to time I know you hear some criticism, I have to praise you and the team that worked because certainly, when it comes to the economy, when it comes to tax policy, we will never have 100% solidarity” , said the president.

The IPD is calculated using an artificial intelligence algorithm that collects and processes 152 variables from the Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Wikipedia and Google platforms.

Five dimensions are considered in the final score: fame (number of followers), engagement (comments and likes per post), mobilization (shares), valence (proportion of positive and negative reactions) and interest (search volume).

The weight that each dimension has in the account is determined by a model assimilated by the machine from the real results of previous elections, with thousands of candidacies monitored by the company.

Another PT member who increased his level of digital popularity was Minister Paulo Pimenta, from Secom (Secretary of Social Communication). Her DPI started at 34 in January, peaked at 44 in March, and was at 42 in the hundred days.

Little by little, according to Nunes, Pimenta has been consolidating himself as a kind of informal spokesperson for the Lula government. Differently from what happened in other mandates, the petista does not have someone officially in the role in Planalto.

In addition to leading the debate on issues such as the regulation of social networks, Pimenta was also involved in controversial episodes that had repercussions on social networks, such as the interview in which he tried to disqualify a CNN journalist.

Among the ministers who have lost digital popularity, the predominance of portfolio holders linked to minorities is noteworthy.

Sônia Guajajara (Indigenous Peoples) had the biggest drop, with 18 points less between January and April, followed by Silvio Almeida (Human Rights, 14 points less) and Anielle Franco (Racial Equality), Marina Silva (Environment) and Simone Tebet (Planning), the three with ten points less.

Tebet, on the other hand, remains with high digital popularity (46), second only to Haddad and Dino.

For Nunes, the drop in the IPD of ministers with portfolios dear to the progressive electorate, or identity, may indicate a government communication strategy focused on the economy.

On the other hand, the director of Quaest highlights the median or even low digital popularity of what he calls “end folders”, linked to the PT’s traditional banners.

This is the case of the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, with less than half of Dino’s IPD (36), of Wellington Dias (Social Development), with only the 18th highest index (21), and especially of the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade .

Its IPD is not only the seventh lowest on the Esplanada, it also dropped from 24 to 15 points in April. For Nunes, the situation draws attention, since the performance of the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the health area during the pandemic was an important driver of the vote for Lula.