Toxicity in electoral debates in São Paulo

By: FGV Comunicação Rio

The chair-throwing incident during the São Paulo mayoral debate highlighted the issue of toxicity in candidates' speeches, marking a turning point in escalating tensions throughout the electoral race. In response, FGV Comunicação Rio analyzed debates broadcasted by Band, TV Cultura, RedeTV, SBT, and Record, featuring candidates José Luiz Datena, Pablo Marçal, Maria Helena, Guilherme Boulos, Ricardo Nunes, and Tabata Amaral. This process involved transcribing the speeches and classifying them, allowing for the categorization of four levels of toxicity in discourse: Non-Toxic, Low Toxicity, Moderate Toxicity, and High Toxicity.

Datena and Marçal were the candidates with the highest number of toxic remarks, with 66.1% and 65.2%, respectively. Marçal was the only candidate with speeches classified as High Toxicity; for instance, he accused opponents of crimes like rape, assault on women, attempted murder, and made provocative statements, such as those that led up to the chair-throwing incident, where Marçal used derogatory terms and accused Datena of sexual assault.

Following incidents of physical and/or verbal aggression during debates on TV Cultura, RedeTV, and Grupo Flow, the SBT debate recorded the lowest toxicity level at 32.5%, with no high-toxicity remarks. Similarly, the Record debate had a relatively low toxicity level compared to others, at 48.5%, also without high-toxicity remarks.

Additionally, the speeches were classified based on their emotional appeal, as they could convey different types of emotions. This process identified emotions such as Nostalgia, Pride, Hope, Compassion, Disgust, Fear, and Anger—the last of which was prominent, especially in the speeches of Guilherme Boulos, Pablo Marçal, and Datena.

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