Brazilian copaganda on social media and the denial of white supremacy by the São Paulo police

Abstract

This article analyzes the production of Copaganda in Brazil, seen as police propaganda to build an image or promote its objectives in light of critical criminology. The focus is on a post on Instagram by the 9th Special Police Action Battalion (BAEP) of São José do Rio Preto, which generated controversy for containing symbols associated with white supremacism, such as a burning cross and a raised arm gesture. The research problem questions which discourses-images were propagated by the post and how its media repercussion occurred. The objective is to identify the rhetoric and images involved and their implications. The methodology is deductive, with critical discourse analysis and bibliographic review. It is concluded that the advertising piece mobilizes symbolic elements historically linked to racism and fascism, revealing how Copaganda can serve to normalize violence and authoritarian discourses as a solution to crime. The resistance of the authorities to recognize the symbolic nature of the content reflects the maintenance of racist structures in the public security apparatus. Therefore, we warn against the use of Copaganda, also algorithmically fed via social networks, as a tool for regulating violence, thus consolidating the state racism already perpetrated against the country's black population.

Key words: Copaganda; critical criminology; police; media and social network; white supremacism.