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If you are not a supporter of right-wing authoritarianism, then Brazilian social media was the place to be today. Brazil’s leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, shocked the world with his underdog victory Sunday night, after lagging behind Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round of voting earlier this month. Pollsters and pundits had expected the supporters of the candidates who were eliminated in the first round to shift to Bolsonaro, a Donald Trump ally. Few predicted what actually happened: Lula won by about 4 million votes, securing a fourth term.

On social media, the gleeful Portuguese-language memes escaped containment. You needn’t speak the language to enjoy them. There were compilations of hot Brazilians flashing their support for Lula with “L” hand gestures, and A.I.-generated videos of the 80-year-old Lula in stacked heels and glam bodysuits dancing to Lady Gaga. The “Call an Ambulance” meme got a lot of play. And there was a lot for Brazil’s leftists to celebrate: This wasn’t just a blow to the global right-wing movement but to the Bolsonaro family in particular. The younger Bolsonaro ran as a proxy for his father, Jair, who is under house arrest for plotting a Jan. 6–style coup after losing to Lula in 2022. Lula’s win means the elder Bolsonaro will not walk free. It’s a blow to a political dynasty, and a lot of fodder for jokes.

If you are a fan of right-wing authoritarianism, however, political social media looked quite different today. On the right, influencers spoke darkly of Lula’s win as a danger to global democracy. This narrative came about thanks to right-wing influencers’ intentional misrepresentation of a last-minute ruling by Brazil’s Supreme........

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