Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva challenged Senator Flávio Bolsonaro to lift banking and telephone confidentiality during their October 18 debate on TV Bandeirantes. His proposal covered both candidates’ records ahead of the October 25 presidential runoff.

The challenge later drew millions of online interactions, according to digital monitoring firm Ativaweb DataLab. The figures were reported by Brazilian news outlet Brasil247, citing a column by Miriam Leitão in the newspaper O Globo.

A challenge covering both candidates

Lula put the proposal directly to Bolsonaro during the televised confrontation. A video of the exchange showed the president proposing that both men open their banking and telephone records, rather than asking only his opponent to disclose information.

Alek Maracajá, chief executive of Ativaweb DataLab, said the challenge went unanswered. He said the absence of a response helped keep the question in public discussion after the debate.

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Maracajá’s assessment linked the attention to Bolsonaro’s silence over the proposal. Whether Bolsonaro subsequently responded or agreed to release records remains unclear.

Monitoring reports millions of interactions

According to the monitoring figures relayed by Brasil247, the challenge generated more than 12 million mentions, comments and interactions across digital platforms. The video of Lula proposing disclosure received 10.2 million views.

The same report identified that clip as the most-viewed excerpt from the debate shared online. It also said discussion of the confidentiality challenge accounted for 6.4% of all likes recorded in comments on the official debate broadcast.

A separate qualitative exercise with a focus group of undecided voters identified the challenge as the debate’s moment of greatest engagement, according to the report. Those findings concerned participants who had not yet decided which candidate to support.

Lula follows the debate with fresh criticism

In a social-media video published on October 19, Lula said he had felt uncomfortable debating Bolsonaro. He described his opponent as unqualified and called him a militia member.

Those descriptions were Lula’s accusations against his rival. The remarks came the day after the two candidates faced each other on TV Bandeirantes, also known as Band.

Lula and Bolsonaro are competing for Brazil’s presidency in the second round of voting. The runoff is scheduled for October 25, one week after their televised confrontation.