Parties use AI to portrait their pre-candidates as members of the Brazilian national football team
Liberal and Republican parties superimposed images of their members onto the bodies of World Cup players
The Liberal Party (PL) and the Republicanos party used artificial intelligence to promote their pre-candidates for the 2026 elections. Posts on the parties’ official Instagram profiles depict politicians affiliated with the groups as World Cup players.
“Is there a national team where everyone wears the number 10 jersey? OF COURSE THERE IS! 🇧🇷🔟 It’s the Republican Squad taking the field to show that politics is also built on hard work, courage, and a commitment to the people,” reads the caption of the Republicanos post, which features Hugo Motta, Tarcísio de Freitas, Marcos Pereira, and other party politicians depicted as action figures of Brazilian national team players.
PL manipulated the images of Flávio Bolsonaro, Rogério Marinho, Cabo Gilberto Silva, Caroline de Toni, and other politicians, superimposing their faces onto the bodies of soccer players on the field. In a series of videos posted on the party’s profile, the presidential pre-candidate is shown performing celebratory gestures typical of the player Neymar Jr. “Today is the national team squad announcement, and our star player has already been selected. 🏆 Neymar is Flávio. Flávio is Neymar,” reads the caption.
The PL signaled the use of this technology in its posts through captions and text overlaid on the images. The Republicanos party, however, did not disclose that the content was created using artificial intelligence—a fact that can be discerned from the plasticized appearance of the images.
