With less than seven weeks until the World Cup kicks off in Rio de Janeiro, the latest unrest in the city last week has alarmed organisers and authorities, and only underlined the problems that they face, with the likelihood of more protests in the run up to and during the World Cup tournament and elections later this year.
Angered by what they see as a misrepresentation of the issues by traditional media, new independent media collectives and networks have emerged over the past year.
"Contrary to most of the reports in Brazil's mass media, the wave of protests and occupations in our country are not carried out by 'thugs' or a manipulated throng," says Felipe Altenfelder, a founding member of Midia Ninja.
"This is about a crisis for democracy and more rights, and this new independent media in Brazil, streaming and circulating thousands of photos and videos in real time, has played a decisive role in making sure those protests were properly covered," Altenfelder says.
The protests in Sao Paulo during the Confederations Cup last June were a turning point for the newly formed Midia Ninja, as they provided the first glimpse of the size of audience the collective could reach.
"It captivated the country for the duration of the Confederations Cup, and put Brazil on the map of the new 'global springs'.
Brazil has hosted the World Cup only once before, in 1950, when the biggest crowd to ever watch a football match estimated at more than 200,000 people crammed into the Maracana stadium to watch the hosts play Uruguay in the final.
When it was first announced that Brazil would host this year's World Cup, back in 2007, many Brazilians saw the tournament as the moment when the country which, according to an old saying, is the "country of the future and always will be" finally took its place on the world stage.
"Who would have thought that in the land of football, the population would take to the streets and social networks to criticise the World Cup and the investment in the stadiums," says Rafael Vilela, a photographer and another founder member of Midia Ninja.
"This is a new Brazil, where there is no contradiction between loving football and being able to criticise the World Cup," says Vilela.
Malini believes that "a big part of the old media saw itself humiliated by the incoming truths coming as news, streaming and first-hand accounts from the new Brazilian movement.
"These will be the first elections to take place since the emergence of Brazil's new political climate, fuelled by a new generation whose primary political reference is the popular government of former president Lula [Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva].
These young activists are aware that, with the World Cup, elections and Olympics, the eyes of the world are on Brazil and there is a huge appetite to find out more about the complex political and social situation in the country.
Midia Ninja are working with other collectives and activists in the runup to and during the World Cup.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/27/social-media-gives-new-voice-to-brazil-protests
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