DJ Ivis’ case in Brazil, the role of big companies and cyberactivism in the confront against women violence

Since this monday nothing else has been talked about. It couldn’t be different: the images that have come to public of DJ Ivis’ aggression against his ex-wife Pamella Holanda are absolutely shocking, desperate, revolting. The aggression took place in front of other people, one of them is a 9-month-old baby, and was filmed by one of the men present.

The footage was released by Pamella on her networks on monday 12th, and they were part of the complaint process.

Iverson, the DJ, made several stories trying to explain the inexplicable, and closed his Instagram comments for followers only, which made him gain, in 8 hours, more than 200,000 new followers. And, apparently afterward, he closed the comments for his followers as well. The point is that the followers are still there, as his Instagram verification stamp.

We could talk a lot about how male privilege makes people still want to listen to white men after this kind of exposure, or the very fact that it was a man who filmed the assault rather than defending Pamella, but there are people who have done good analyzes of this camaraderie that sustains patriarchy.

And there’s a question from prosecutor Silvinha Chakian that echoes around here: “How do you think Pamella’s report of aggression by this dj, with her famous partnerships and more than 900,000 followers, would be received in the absence of this video? Discredit, ridicularization and crazy and self-interested classification, you bet.” This, in fact, is the reality of thousands of women who suffer with any type of violence and seek justice in this country.

I think it’s important to point out the artists’ responsibility when positioning themselves in this case, and also the platforms that end up giving visibility to these artists. Several artists were fast to comment on the subject, having to say the obvious that sometimes seems to be so off the curve in Brazil in 2021: violence is not justified, repudiation of what was shown, support for Pamella and other women who suffer violence and who, like her, have not found justice.

Xandy Avião, owner of the production company that managed the artist’s career, announced Iversons’ resignation, and declared support for Pamella and the child. Deezer spoke on Instagram saying that it doesn’t condone the violence and that “measures are being taken” — indicating that the songs could be removed from the platform. Internet users are campaigning to block the execution of his songs also on Spotify, a platform that has not yet commented.

In this sense, Instagram’s non-pronouncement — the fact that it remained active and with the platform’s certificate seal — draws a lot of attention to the perverse logic of the engagement that sustains the platform. Due to Instagram and Spotify delay in positioning about the case, user groups <https://www.nsctotal.com.br/noticias/internautas-fazem-campanha-para-cancelar-dj-ivis-no-instagram-e-spotify > articulated in boycott campaigns, such as the one initiated by Débora Diniz, anthropologist and columnist for El País <https://www.metropoles.com/entretenimento/musica/usuarios-se-revoltam-e-pedem-exclusao-de- dj-ivis-do-instagram>

From Wednesday morning (07/14) to Thursday night (07/15) the DJ’s Instagram account has been suspended, remains active on Spotify.

It doesn’t matter if we have a victim, if we have a recording, if we have crime, if we have impunity. The number of people who have gained notoriety due to “scandals”, real or fabricated, is absurd.

It has passed the time to challenge these and many other perverse logics that permeate our daily lives and allow the support of oppressive systems with women, black, indigenous people, people with deficiency and so many other “minorities” that are not a minority. The same technology that connects and enables accesses that were previously unimaginable also excludes, distorts values and builds bizarre imaginaries. In addition to the actions mentioned here, what else can be done so that bizarre cases like this do not result in increased visibility for perpetrators and even more pain for victims?