In the humid, electric final stretch of Brazil’s presidential campaign, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva did something that has become a familiar ritual of his political life: he gathered his people around him, not through a sea of red flags and chants under an afternoon sun, but through a glowing screen, talking straight into the camera with the kind of intimate urgency that has long defined his bond with millions of Brazilians. With exactly twenty days to go before the October 4 vote, Lula called on supporters to turn their living rooms, verandas and buzzing cell phone threads into…

Let’s be honest: in the digital age, feelings often outrank facts. A story that triggers anger, fear, or sympathy spreads faster, lingers longer, and feels more true than a carefully worded statement full of evidence. This is especially true during online scandals, when official information is incomplete or untrusted. Misinformation, in this context, is not just a lie circulating on the internet. It is a participatory process. Audiences do not simply absorb rumors; they shape them, repeat them, add new details, and transform them into shared emotional realities. Researchers call this participatory misinformation, and it is driven by emotional resonance—the…