Opponents commandeer Bolsonaro website domain

Photo: Salty View/Shutterstock

With just over a month to go before Brazil’s presidential elections, President Jair Bolsonaro has lost control of a website URL in his name. The bolsonaro.com.br domain name now directs to a page depicting the president as Adolf Hitler, surrounded by a herd of cows. The title “Threat to Brazil” is emblazoned across the image.

“This site is a digital art gallery and journalistic archive related to the Bolsonaro family,” the website’s About page reads, specifying that it is not managed nor owned by the president or his family.

The website contains a detailed and illustrated critique of President Bolsonaro and his politics, pinpointing his mishandling of the Covid pandemic, the corruption allegations that hang over his inner circle, and his attempts to erode this year’s democratic process, amongst other things.

According to a report by newspaper Folha de S. Paulo from 2020, the website was President Bolsonaro’s personal page, but was at the time used to publicize government work. News site UOL found that the domain’s records were updated on August 11 of this year.

Critics of Mr. Bolsonaro and supporters of his main rival, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, are gleefully sharing the news on social media. “Carluxo forgot to renew the domain name,” reads a message doing the rounds on social media, in reference to the president’s second son Carlos Bolsonaro, who manages his social media and communications. “I recommend you visit [the site] NOW, before it’s taken down.”