Brazil’s media is being muzzled by the Bolsonaro government. The most blocked professions are journalists (19%), lawyers (9.5%) and advertising professionals (7.5%), with other professionals blocked include educators (7%), business administrators (6%) and scientists, doctors and healthcare workers (3%).
The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), FCB Brasil, and its creative data arm, FCB/SIX have worked out an ingenious way to identify and report government officials who have blocked Brazilian citizens on Twitter – cakes. NFT cakes.
The idea was inspired by Brazilian newspapers that printed cake recipes to protest government censorship during the country’s 1964-85 dictatorship.
FCB Brasil, FCB/SIX, Abraji and political website, Congresso em Foco, devised unique pieces of cake-inspired crypto-art that journalists and people from other professions, including educators and scientists, can use on their Twitter profile to indicate to followers that they have been blocked by the country’s government officials.
To obtain one of the cryptographic cakes, people log in to the dedicated website, which detects if their Twitter account has been blocked by at least one of the 600 people currently holding public office in the country -including the president and vice-president, as well as various secretaries and ministers of state.
For those who have been blocked, the system generates a unique cryptographic cake using non-fungible token technology, signifying that it is certified and unique. The shape and ingredients for the cryptographic cake also convey specific information: A square cake, for example, signifies that someone has been blocked by a congressman, while caramel frosting indicates that they were blocked for opposing political views, while the cake’s texture indicates their professional field (eg: biologist, journalist, etc.).
NFT’s help create a type of “digital police report” that is blockchain-certified and records not only the person who was blocked, but also the person who blocked them, and the reason for the block. Once registered to the blockchain, each NFT is impossible to censor or erase.
There is already a gallery of cakes that includes journalists blocked by government officials. Amanda Audi, executive director of the Congress em Foco is one of them. “The tool found that I was blocked by the president, two ministers of state, one senator and two congressmen, so I have four distinct and unique cakes,” said Audi. “We hope this initiative will help denounce the arbitrary decision to block people’s access to social network accounts of public figures.”
“Since April 2021, SweetBlock has identified 412 blocks, 78 of these being on journalists,” stated Cristina Zahar, Abraji executive secretary. “When this happens, the journalists are hindered in their ability to access information that is in the public’s interest, especially when the accounts are used for official government communications. With the campaign, we want to call attention to the problem and promote discussions on the subject.”
The monitoring tool indicates that President Jair Bolsonaro is the government official who most blocks people on Twitter, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all blocks (24%) and blocking on average 240 times more users than a federal deputy. The data also found that the leading reason for being blocked by a politician is criticism of their conduct.
Credits:
Clients: Abraji & Congresso em Foco
Executive Director, Congresso em Foco: Amanda Audi
Executive Secretary, Abraji: Cristina Zahar
Monitoring Analyst: Mirella Cordeiro
CEO & Founder, Congresso em Foco: Sylvio Costa
Communications Manager, Digital: Thiago Assunção
Agencies: FCB Brasil & FCB/SIX
Chief Creative Officers: Ricardo John & Ian Mackenzie
Executive Creative Directors: Anna Martha Silveira, Fabio Simões & Marcelo Rizério
Associate Creative Director: Rafael Pascarella
Head of Art: Fábio Cristo
Designers: Fábio Cristo & João Porto
Art Director: André Mezzomo
Copywriter: Kayran Moroni
Chief Strategy Officer: Renata D’Ávila
Chief Growth Officer: Fábio Freitas
VP, Product: Bonnie Chung
VP, Media: Tiago Santos
VP, Client Services: Elthon Longhi
Content Strategist: Théa Rodrigues
Motion Design & Editing Manager: Rodrigo Resende
Editor: Luiz Eduardo Doria
Production Director: Fernanda Geraldini
Broadcast Supervisor: Pedro Lazzuri
Production Manager: João Albertini
Senior Project Manager: Amanda Redondo
Associate Broadcast Producer: Amanda Fonseca
Client Services Director: Samya Anjos
PR: Maria Cacaia & Priscila Noronha
Technology Partners: IVM, Litemint, Mdcode, OriginalMy, Zappo
Sound, Mix & Post: Shuffle Audio
Musical Production: Luiz Fernando Vital
Composer: Luiz Fernando Vital
