Photo: YouTube/Podah / Pipoca Moderna
YouTuber Felipe Neto revealed the emotional burden and consequences of taking a political stance against Jair Bolsonaro in an interview with the PodPah podcast this Tuesday (October 10). Since Neto began criticizing the thenpresidential candidate in 2018, he has faced threats that led him to expel his mother from Brazil and hire intelligence agencies to monitor risks to her physical integrity.
The digital influencer explained that he even has an escape plan. “I have security information, it’s not just about physical security. I have the information to find out if someone is planning something serious, if someone is planning an execution,” he explained.
emotions and fear
Felipe became one of the main targets of farright attacks on social media, especially after he supported the candidacy of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 elections. “I went through things that no human being should have to go through. Everything I went through was called death threats, I had to take my mother out of the country. I miss going out on the streets without security because people who don’t agree with me accept it. But that won’t happen,” he reported.
He lamented the political polarization that prevents healthy debate on social media. “I wanted people to be able to defend themselves. When I saw this, I was shot at from all sides. That was in 2018 and it never stopped.”
He became emotional and said during the interview that he had lost the right to live without fear after he decided to speak out politically. “I miss not being afraid. I went to Portugal and after almost five years I was able to see what it means to live without fear,” he said.
Trials and allegations
During Bolsonaro’s government, Neto was charged with corruption of minors due to the use of profanity in old videos and with crimes against national security after criticizing the thenpresident. “They tried to arrest me for a crime against national security when I cursed the president, then I also responded to a criminal case by the state… The two of them.” [processos] If I lose in criminal cases, I will be in prison,” he explained.
He laughed awkwardly, “I didn’t think I would get emotional. It’s been almost five years and people are mixing up a lot of things. When I got involved in this social and political movement, I didn’t think this would happen. I imagined the art class coming together. And that didn’t happen.