If Brazil's 2026 election were a reality show, Instagram would already be the audience favorite: three out of four candidates registered with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) reported at least one account on the platform. The figures come from a survey by g1 of the court's candidate database. At the other end, about 13% of candidacies declared no social network at all, not even a campaign website.
The numbers, updated through Wednesday (26), give Instagram a comfortable lead: 15,458 candidates (74%) reported at least one profile on the platform. Facebook comes next, with 10,117 listings (49%), and TikTok rounds out the podium with 5,035 (24%). WhatsApp, YouTube, Telegram, Kwai, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Pinterest and Threads also appear in the filings, which can still change as new registrations and Electoral Justice decisions come in.
The comparison with 2022 shows how fast things moved. In that election, 46% of candidates had reported an Instagram account, 42% a Facebook profile and 12% an account on X. Among parties, Novo has the highest share of candidacies with at least one declared network, followed by MDB and Podemos. At the bottom, no candidate from the PCO listed a social media profile (all of them list only the party's official website), and PSTU, Democracia Cristã and Missão have fewer than half of their candidacies linked to the platforms.
From Spotify to Tinder
Not every declared address is a social network, and that is where the list gets entertaining. Spotify was listed by 68 candidates, the gaming platform Twitch by five and Deezer by five more. One candidate declared a Tinder profile, the dating app (in 2022, three did). Even the academic resume platform Lattes and the scientific database ORCID made it into the registry, with one and two candidates, respectively.
Among alternative networks, GETTR, aimed at conservative audiences, and Bluesky have nine listings each, while Truth Social, the network created by Donald Trump, appears only once.
What the law says
Brazilian law requires candidates to list in their registration request, the RRC, the "electronic addresses of their websites, blogs, social networks, instant messaging services and similar applications already in existence". According to electoral law specialist Renato Ribeiro, the law avoids a closed list of platforms so it does not become obsolete, and since 2024 the TSE has made clear that public channels on messaging apps such as Telegram and WhatsApp are also covered.
"If an originally personal account starts to publish electoral propaganda, ask for votes, present proposals or share the campaign schedule, it becomes one of the channels used by the candidacy and must be reported to the Electoral Justice", Ribeiro explains.
A candidate who hides an address used in the campaign can be held liable for irregular electoral propaganda, with a fine of R$ 5,000 to R$ 30,000. The candidacy itself is not automatically struck down, the jurist notes: what defines the violation is the electoral use of the profile.
Where to follow all of this? In your feed, of course. With three quarters of the candidates on Instagram, that is where the campaign will parade its proposals, behind the scenes clips and lives until October. And the numbers above can still grow: the TSE database remains open to new registrations and corrections.