Brazil and the Viral Poison

 

Brazil has become a disturbing laboratory for the dark power of social media, a space where truth dissolves in tides of disinformation and manipulated campaigns. We’re not talking about isolated mistakes, but orchestrated waves capable of shaping the political and cultural fate of millions. The rise of Jair Bolsonaro was no coincidence: it was the direct result of a machinery of bots and toxic messages that reconfigured reality. Without those networks, Bolsonaro would never have come to power; today he faces trials, but the damage is already done.

This phenomenon extends far beyond politics. Last year, the road to the Oscars revealed another silent and brutal battle: the film Emilia Pérez and its lead actress, Karla Sofía Gascón, were victims of a vicious campaign that used old videos and statements to erase any chance of recognition. While critics turned a blind eye to these manipulations, the main competitor, I’m Still Here, starring Fernanda Torres as a Brazilian icon, cruised comfortably on the other side. Coincidence or strategy?

Sports haven’t escaped this invisible war either. Ramon Rocha Queiroz, known as “Dino,” a Brazilian bodybuilder in the Classic Physique division, embodies the spark within the blaze. His dominance on social media is undeniable: every minute brings a headline, a rumor, a new wave. Behind that constant exposure, there seems to be more than just fans, perhaps a team dedicated to keeping him on top of the media spotlight at all costs, even when the 2024 results showed a real decline.

When controversy erupted over the height-to-weight ratio in the Classic Physique division, a storm followed with massive accusations targeting Mike Sommerfeld, the Arnold Classic champion. The most revealing detail: most of these attacks came from Brazilian accounts, in Portuguese, as if a paid network had been activated to tarnish a foreign competitor and elevate their countryman. Not a coincidence, it’s the same playbook we saw with Bolsonaro, Gascón, and now again in the mirror of sports.

Sommerfeld remains the favorite for Mr. Olympia, but Dino and his media army seem willing to do anything to dethrone him. They ignore visible reality and weave corrosive lies aimed at undermining the legitimacy of hard, honest work. Some irresponsible comments even point to a surgery Sommerfeld underwent to gain height. Urs Kalecinski, another key contender, has been sidelined, a silenced pawn on a board where only a few control the pieces. Even during the reign of six-time Mr. Olympia Chris Bumstead, similar criticisms surfaced, and back then, interestingly, Ramon held the runner-up spot behind him.

What’s at stake here isn’t just fame or athletic victory, but the very fabric of reality itself. The real battle is over who controls the narrative, who defines what the majority will see and believe. In that fight, truth is the first casualty. That’s why, in this game of shadows, Sommerfeld’s best response is to let his work speak, to let each sculpted muscle silence the channels of deceit once and for all.

This isn’t an isolated case but the accelerated symptom of something deeper: a viralized society that rewards manipulation and punishes authenticity. Brazil is merely the board where the dystopian future of mass information control is being rehearsed. The question that remains is how much longer we’ll stay trapped in this cycle before reclaiming the truth that belongs to us.