Brazil: online xenophobia targeting north-easterners

Lirabellaqua, from blogging collective Trezentos ^[1] [pt], and political blogger Rodrigo Vianna ^[2] [pt] weigh in on the recent slew of online hate speech ^[3] [pt] that has targeted north-eastern Brazilians who voted for president-elect Dilma Rousseff. Supporters of Dilma's opponent, Jose Serra, spread tweets condemning voters in the impoverished region, where Dilma won a landslide victory, claiming they are “uncivilised” and take advantage of welfare programmes such as the Bolsa Família ^[4] to survive. In response, the hashtag #orgulhodesernodestino (proud to be north-eastern) has begun trending on Twitter.