This paper is exploratory in nature and aims to identify how the use of social networks, and in this case Facebook in particular, by the Chega political party and its leader André Ventura, is used as a political campaign tool. In this way, we will address the success of this politician and his party through digital marketing to win over voters, as well as understanding the extent to which their political programme is disseminated or whether we are dealing with the dissemination of political demagoguery, propaganda and the use of ‘fake news’ associated with the concept of post-truth - ‘alternative fact’. Interviews with social agents linked to the area of communication and a former mayor were used to realise our objectives, as well as document analysis. The results point to the use of social networks as political tools designed to promote the simplification (often misrepresented and polemical) of speeches, without a truly enlightening presentation of the political programme.
Author: Paulo Sérgio Queirós Dias.