The Guardian is on: an analysis of STFs public image on TikTok

• Grant number: 24/18350-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: February 29, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Other specific Sociologies
• Principal Investigator: Fabiana Luci de Oliveira
• Grantee: Desirée Ferreira Marques Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research is part of studies on the communication of judicial institutions and its main objective is to describe the self-narrative of the STF on TikTok and how it impacts its public image. The study aims to describe the principles that govern the STF's official communication policy; identify the themes of the videos posted by the STF on this social network; understand the language used in these contents authored by the Supreme Court on TikTok; and understand whether and how this narrative of itself as an institution impacts the perception of the lay and specialized public about it. The research will be qualitative, based on a documentary analysis of the STF's Social Communication regulations; content analysis and thematic framing of the videos posted on the Supreme Court's profile; valence analysis of the comments made in the posts; and semi-structured interviews with journalists who cover the court and jurists. The theoretical perspective that underpins this project considers the legitimacy and public image of the institutions of the Judiciary based on the influence of diffuse and specific public support. The aim is to contribute to the field of sociological studies on Supreme Court communications in one of the most downloaded applications in the world, contemporary to generation Z and highly algorithmic. (AU)