"Skewed Brazilian Election a Social Media Danger"

Question

by Luca Belli

Misinformation via social media played a troubling role in boosting far-right Congressman Jair Bolsonaro to into the Brazilian presidency.

Bolsonaro did not win 55 percent of votes thanks to misinformation alone. A powerful desire for political change in Brazil after a yearslong corruption scandal and a court decision compelling the jailed front-runner Luis Inacio Lula da Silva to withdraw from the race both opened the door wide for his win.

But Bolsonaro’s candidacy benefited from a powerful and coordinated disinformation campaign intended to discredit his rivals, according to the Brazilian newspaper Folha.

Days before the Oct. 28 runoff between Bolsonaro and his leftist competitor, leftist Fernando Haddad, an investigation by Folha revealed that a conservative Brazilian business lobby had bankrolled the multimillion-dollar smear campaign – activities that may have constituted an illegal campaign contribution.

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Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

Which feature could be added to make the text more effective at conveying its central idea?

(1 point)
Responses

screenshots of examples of misinformation from the campaign
screenshots of examples of misinformation from the campaign

a map showing voting patterns of different regions of Brazil
a map showing voting patterns of different regions of Brazil

a diagram explaining how social media messages are created
a diagram explaining how social media messages are created

bullet points listing the different positions of the political candidates

Answer 1

The feature that could be added to make the text more effective at conveying its central idea is:

screenshots of examples of misinformation from the campaign

This addition would provide concrete evidence of the misinformation that played a role in Bolsonaro's campaign, thereby strengthening the argument about the impact of social media on the election.