Northeast Brazil Leads Social‑Media Use for Political Information

A new study by Aláfia Lab, based on interviews with 1,512 Brazilians, finds that 47.2% of residents in Brazil's Northeast use social media as their primary source for political news, the highest share among the country’s regions. Overall, 57.8% of Northeastern respondents rely on social platforms for general information. Instagram is the dominant channel, cited by 52.4% of Northeastern users, while Facebook lags at 5.2%, the lowest national rate. The region also leads in receiving news via WhatsApp from friends (74.8%) and acquaintances (57%), and shows the greatest use of short‑video platform Kwai (27.9%). By contrast, the Southeast still prefers television for political news (48.4%) over social media (42.3%). Researcher Ellen Guerra notes that this mix “amplifies the diversity of actors and eases access to information, but also blurs hierarchies and raises disinformation risks.”