Faustão sets the stage for the debate on healthcare, with disinformation about SUS (Brazil’s Unified Health System) and the Covid-19 vaccine

By: FGV ECMI

• The transplant of TV presenter Fausto Silva triggers the highest peak in the healthcare debate in the last 3 months;
• The thesis that Fausto Silva cut in the transplant queue corresponds to the most common disinformation thread in the analyzed social medias; 
• Associations between the presenter's health condition and the Covid-19 vaccine were mapped in right-wing outlets, circulating peripherally on Facebook, Instagram and Telegram.

The episode involving the transplant performed by Faustão (as he is known), in addition to guiding part of the more general discussion about health, generating the highest peak of the debate in the last 3 months, also led to clashes over the quality of the Unified Health System, corruption in public management, donation of organs, leakage of personal data and the Covid-19 vaccine. This is what the study conducted by FGV School of Communication, Media, and Information (FGV ECMI) shows, which analyzed these discussions on Instagram, Facebook, Telegram and X (formerly Twitter).

General debate on health

Evolution of the health debate on X

Period: from June 1st to August 30th 

Source: X | Elaboration: FGV ECMI

• The highest peak in the health debate in the last three months was recorded on August 28th, shortly after TV presenter Fausto Silva's heart transplant;
• The discussion had two main argumentative strands. On one hand, regular profiles mocked and questioned the speed at which Faustão received the transplant, suggesting that the SUS would have “worked better” for the presenter, due to his social class and public visibility. Posts suggesting that Faustão would have cut in the transplant queue also had repercussions. However, part of the debate featured profiles praising the speed of care given to the presenter, asserting that the operation was only possible due to the quality of the SUS;
• It is interesting to note that the episode involving the presenter sparked broader discussions about the quality of the Unified Health System. In this context, personal accounts of the difficulties in obtaining an operation through the public system resonate, along with opinions on what could be done to speed up the transplant waiting list.

Key health terms on X

Period: from 23 to 30 Augus

Source: X | Elaboration: FGV ECMI

• When we delve inbto the discussion on health, focusing on its content in the last week, the centrality of SUS becomes even more evident. In this regard, the expression "Viva o SUS" (Long Live The SUS) is disputed, with posts that effectively praise the Unified Health System and others that use the slogan ironically;
• At the center of the praise, presenter Faustão's heart transplant was used to exemplify the quality of public healthcare, particularly emphasizing the speed and cost-free nature of such procedures;
• Posts that politicize the topic, criticizing or praising the quality of healthcare during Lula's administration, were also common. The current government was also brought into discussions about Faustão's transplant, with posts echoing a statement from the Ministry of Health about the presenter's condition, justifying the urgency of the operation. The statement was prompted by comments suggesting a supposed difference in the treatment offered to Faustão compared to “ordinary citizens”.  

Disinformation thread about presenter Fausto Silva

Understanding the centrality of Fausto Silva to the healthcare debate and considering the circulation of theories related to the presenter's transplant, we narrow down the discussion to map the disinformation threads circulating on Facebook, Instagram, X (the former Twitter) and Telegram. On Facebook, Instagram and Telegram, this analysis was made possible by collecting of mentions of the presenter, while on X, we began with an analysis of the healthcare debate as a whole. 

Misinformation threads about Fausto Silva on Facebook and Instagram  

Period: from 01 to 30 August

Total posts collected on Instagram: 5,186| Total posts collected on Facebook: 22,541

Source: Facebook and Instagram | Elaboration: FGV ECMI

• On Facebook and Instagram, the thesis that Faustão cut in the transplant queue constitutes the main disinformation thread mapped. Thus, there is a belief that the presenter has harmed people who genuinely need a transplant and that Lula's administration favored him due to his history with Rede Globo;
• Additionally, disinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine can also be observed, either indicating that Faustão's supposed donor died as a result of the vaccine or claiming that the presenter's health condition would have worsened for the same reason;
• After the alleged identity of Faustão's donor leaked, peripheral comments about ethics and the leaking personal data also circulated. While some mentions condemned the act, a group of profiles ignored the leak, sharing images of the alleged donor to express gratitude.

Disinformation threads about Fausto Silva on X

Period: from 01 to 30 August

Total posts collected on X: 2,465,474 

Source: X | Elaboration: FGV ECMI

• Similar to on Facebook and Instagram, on the former Twitter plataform, there's a  notion that the SUS had unduly favored presenter Faustão, due to his public visibility and social class. Comparisons with MC Marcinho or even with “ordinary citizens” as a whole were used to highlight this alleged difference in treatment;
• On the platform, it is worth noting that the topic is approached with a lot of irony and humor, either throught jokes about the precarious situation of the lower classes in Brazil or with memes depicting the supposed actions of the SUS.

Disinformation threads about Fausto Silva on Telegram.

Period: from 01 to 30 August

Total posts collected on Telegram: 110 messages

Source: Telegram | Elaboration: FGV ECMI

• Telegram, on the other hand, focuses on misleading information about the criteria used by the SUS for selecting transplant patients and also on a supposed relation between the presenter's helath condition and the Covid-19 vaccine.;
• In the first point, there was a common association between Faustão's transplant and the impossibility of ordinary citizens to undergo the procedure, suggesting that the presenter would be responsible for the death of “innocent people”;
• With regard to the Covid-19 vaccine, there is the thesis that Faustão, previously in perfect health, would have been weakened due to the vaccine. Within this scope, right-wing hyper partisan outlets, such as Gazeta do Povo, contribute to this understanding by publishing news that mention speculations about the vaccine's impact on presenter's health.