\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt works like a pyramid,\u201d said Nemer, whose research<\/a> focuses on Bolsonarism, misinformation, and social media, and the \u201chuman infrastructure\u201d behind political misinformation that spreads through WhatsApp. \u201cAt the top, you have people who produce misinformation. In the middle, you have Bolsonaro supporters who work like a swarm of bees to spread misinformation on the platform. At the bottom, it\u2019s average Brazilians who are in groups where this misinformation ends up, and they, in turn, spread it to other groups they are in.\u201d<\/p>\n Communities, Nemer fears, will make it easy for the people at the top to manage these misinformation networks.<\/p>\n Experts like Nemer are right to be concerned. When WhatsApp announced in April that it wouldn\u2019t launch the feature until later in the year, Bolsonaro was reportedly<\/a> angry that the company wasn\u2019t launching it immediately. In July, Brazil\u2019s federal prosecutors reportedly<\/a> asked the company to delay its launch until after the country\u2019s October elections to avoid the spread of fake news and misinformation.<\/p>\n WhatsApp ultimately rolled out the feature four days after Bolsonaro\u2019s defeat. When BuzzFeed News asked if Meta had waited after the election to launch Communities, a WhatsApp spokesperson simply replied, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n After this story was published, a WhatsApp spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that the feature wasn\u2019t available in Brazil yet and wouldn\u2019t be until January.<\/p>\n