Université Paris II- Panthéon-Assas École doctorale d’économie, gestion, information et communication (ED455) – Laboratoire CARISM Thèse de doctorat en Sciences de l’Information et de la Communication soutenue le 3 juillet 2019 The reconfiguration of the communication environment: Twitter in the 2013 Brazilian protests Thèse de Doctorat / juillet 2019 juillet / Doctorat de Thèse Nina FERNANDES DOS SANTOS Sous la direction de Madame le Professeur Cécile Méadel Membres du jury : Monsieur Wilson GOMES, Professeur à l’Université Fédérale de Bahia, Rapporteur Monsieur Tristan MATTELART, Professeur à l’Université Panthéon-Assas Madame Cécile MÉADEL, Professeur à l’Université Panthéon-Assas, Directrice de thèse Madame Laurence MONNOYER-SMITH, Professeur à l’Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Rapporteur Monsieur Romain BADOUARD, Maître de conférences à l’Université Panthéon-Assas FERNANDES DOS SANTOS Nina| PhD Dissertation | July 2019 Avertissement La Faculté n’entend donner aucune approbation ni improbation aux opinions émises dans cette thèse ; ces opinions doivent être considérées comme propres à leur auteur. - 2 - SANTOS Nina Fernandes dos | PhD Dissertation | July 2019 Acknowledgements To Cécile Méadel, for her trust, inspiration, and reviews that made this dissertation an experience that goes far beyond its written pages. To the members of the jury for kindly accepting to dedicate their time to discuss my research. To all the professors, colleagues and staff of the CARISM, for all the help and encouragement. To the Laboratory of Studies on Image and Cyberculture of the Federal University of Espírito Santo, for the kindness in sharing their Twitter data. To all those that agreed to concede me an interview for this work. To Wilson Gomes and all the Center of Internet and Democracy team, for their generosity and for providing the “aconchego” I needed to write this dissertation. To Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and to Clara Ant, for allowing me to live one of the most enriching experiences of my life. Experience that profoundly inspired this dissertation. To the public Brazilian and French universities, that gave me so many opportunities of learning. To Ana Fernandes, for being by my side in the best and worst moments, for always reviewing my writings, and for giving me everything, never demanding anything in return. To Jandira, for weekly asking about my progress and when I was coming home. To Alei, for the shared moments and for being present when I couldn't. To Marie-Hélène, for presenting me the best side of the French lifestyle and for the immense support, patience, and curiosity about my research. To Miltinho, Milton, Geny and Antenor, for being the stars that guide my way. To Camila Kowalski and Carol, for the daily support and for the celebration of every little step along the way. And to Roberta, Renata, Tássia, Iara, Aline and Ana Carla for giving the most real meaning to the word friendship. To Leo, without whom I would never have accomplished this and so many other dreams. To Camila Salles, for the countless days at the library, the “angústias” shared, the encouragement, and the daily care that is much needed during a PhD. To Melina, for the gigantic and meticulous work of reviewing the language of this dissertation, and for holding my hand in so many ways. 3 SANTOS Nina Fernandes dos | PhD Dissertation | July 2019 To Arthur, for his “carinho” and for believing in me, even when I didn't. To Thomás, for the ever-inspiring and daring exchanges, always filled with excitement and joy. To Vanessa, Guilherme, Dea and David, for being a part of the best memories of my Parisian years. To Ricardo Fabrino Mendonça, Samuel Barros, Rodrigo Carreiro, Maria Paula Almada, Isabele Mitoso and Jorge Waquim for the kind review of parts of this work. To Flávia and Nora, for our Genval Republic that taught me so much. To Marie-Thérèse and Guy, for helping me to give new meaning to the word home. 4 SANTOS Nina Fernandes dos | PhD Dissertation | July 2019 Résumé Cette thèse porte sur les changements apportés par l'utilisation des médias sociaux au système de communication brésilien et sur la dynamique de communication qu'ils ont favorisée dans le cas des manifestations brésiliennes de 2013. Notre argument repose sur une triple approche qui prend en compte : une vision systémique de l'environnement de communication, telle que proposée par Chadwick (2013) ; une conception de la technologie comme structurée et transformée par son utilisation et, en même temps, comme un élément qui influe et modifie les utilisations qu'elle implique (Jouët, 1993) ; et la dynamique de la communication en tant qu'élément essentiel des systèmes démocratiques (Della Porta, 2013). Notre recherche est basée sur des entretiens avec des acteurs clés parmi les activistes, les acteurs politiques et de la communication des manifestations, ainsi que l’analyse d’un corpus de tweets. La structure du travail est centrée sur trois discussions principales. Nous abordons d’abord les relations entre l’utilisation des médias sociaux et les discours sur les médias traditionnels à travers le concept de médiactivisme (Cardon et Granjon, 2010). Après cela, nous explorons différentes voies d’information rendues possibles par l’utilisation des médias sociaux, dans lesquels des nouveaux médiateurs émergent. Enfin, nous cherchons à comprendre les conséquences de la dynamique de visibilité des médias sociaux sur la construction du monde commun, tel que défini par Hannah Arendt (1958). Finalement, après la proposition de Hardt (2017) selon laquelle un mouvement doit également être analysée en relation avec les faits qui les précèdent et les succèdent, nous écrivons une dernière partie exploratoire de la thèse reliant certaines de nos conclusions à des problématiques politiques et de communication en œuvre au Brésil après les mouvements de 2013. Descripteurs: réseaux sociaux; mouvements sociaux; Brésil; système de communication. Abstract This dissertation discusses the changes brought by social media use to the Brazilian communication system and the communicative dynamics they favored in the case of the 2013 Brazilian protests. Our argument is based on a triple approach that considers: a systemic view of the communication environment, as proposed by Chadwick (2013); a conception of technology as structured and transformed by its use and, at the same time, as an element that impacts and modifies the uses it entails (Jouët, 1993); and the communicational dynamics as an essential part of democratic systems (Della Porta, 2013). Our research is based on interviews with key activist, political and communicational actors of the protests and on the analysis of a corpus of tweets. The structure of the work is centered in three main discussions. We first access the relations between the use of social media and the discourses about mainstream media through the concept of mediactivism (Cardon & Granjon, 2010). After that, we investigate alternative paths of information made possible by the use of social media where new mediators emerge. Finally, we search an understanding of the consequences of the social media visibility dynamics on the construction of the common world, as defined by Hannah Arendt (1958). In the end, following Hardt’s (2017) proposal that the temporality of a movement needs to be analyzed in the relation with the facts that precede and succeed them, we write an exploratory final part of the dissertation linking some of our findings with political and communicational issues that emerged in Brazil after the 2013 movements. Keywords: social media; protest; social movements; Brazil; communication system. 5 SANTOS Nina Fernandes dos | PhD Dissertation | July 2019 Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................... 9 1. The 2013 Brazilian protests in context.................................................. 23 1.1 Social movements and democracy: beyond institutions and procedures ............ 24 1.2 Social movements in Brazil (1964-2013): from demands for democracy to its construction .................................................................................................................... 27 1.3 What’s new on the 2013 Brazilian protests? .......................................................... 32 1.3.1 Social media in a larger communication landscape and the main actors of the conversation about the 2013 protests ................................................................................... 37 2. Protests and digital communication: issues on new forms of political action ........................................................ 43 2.1 Twitter: from a personal diary to a political tool .................................................. 56 3. A meaningful starting point: the experience of managing Lula’s Facebook page ............................................................................................... 62 3.1 Facebook as an alternative to hostile mainstream media ..................................... 71 3.2 Old and new actors on social media and on the streets ........................................ 76 3.3 The new possibilities of building a narrative ......................................................... 85 4. From the actor’s discourse to tweet analysis: our methodological approach ......................................................................................................... 91 4.1 The actor’s narrative ..............................................................................................