Miss São Paulo suffers online racist attacks after winning a beauty contest: ‘I have no peace since I won’

Brasil de Fato

A few hours after winning the Miss São Paulo contest representing the city of São Bernardo do Campo, model Milla Vieira saw her social media accounts invaded by racist comments. “You’re not beautiful enough to be a miss! And you know it!” wrote an Instagram user identified as Natan Silva, whose profile is private. With no posts in his feed, he uses a picture of a cartoon character as his avatar. A commercial profile wrote: “You are ‘MISSericórdia’ [a combination of the word ‘miss’ and a Portuguese word used to express shock]. That’s the only option hahaha.”  

The case reached the contest’s organization, which published a video against the attacks. “There is no place in the Miss Universe Brazil organization, just as there should be no place in the world for people who defend racism,” said Gerson Antonelli, the contest’s CEO. In the video, he points out that the model will take part in the national competition and suggests that she block the offenders. “We are with you,” he said, in a message to Milla.

Antonelli points out that the case could fall under law 7.716, which, since January 2024, equates the crime of racial insult with the crime of racism. In addition to more severe penalties, the change in legislation excludes the need for the victim to be represented, meaning that anyone can file a complaint.

In Milla’s case, as the attacks are a virtual crime, usernames and prints of comments are important information for tracking down criminals. The digital traces of these accounts are stored on internet providers for six months, and police authorities can demand that this data be traced.

“In São Paulo, when the attacker’s identity is unknown, there is Decradi, which is the Police Station for Crimes of Racial and Religious Intolerance,” explains criminal lawyer Flávio Campos, a member of the Human Rights Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB, in Portuguese). “I think it’s very important to contact Decradi, especially in these cases of unknown perpetrators, to request IP addresses.” The Internet Protocol (IP) is a code that makes it possible to identify the computer or cell phone from which comments originate.

In addition to the insults on Milla’s Instagram account, far-right profiles published a video questioning the result of the contest and comparing a photo of the winner with images of other candidates, all of whom were white. Milla has collected prints of the insults and intends to take the case further. “I have no peace. People are [insulting me] on my social media accounts 24 hours a day, cursing me, defaming me,” she says. 

Milla made her debut in Miss competitions ten years ago, at the Miss Brazil Supernational pageant, and got off to a good start. She won the competition and went on to represent Brazil in Poland, taking her first steps in international competitions. When she heard about the possibility of competing in Miss São Paulo in 2024, she took public speaking and catwalk classes, among other preparatory work, with the aim of reaching Miss Universe. “I was focused. I wasn’t even getting out of my home. From the moment I decided to take part in the contest, I focused on it,” she says.

In her ten-year career, Milla has been adding up her achievements. She is currently employed by one of the world’s most famous model agencies and has worked for major national and international brands. However, since her name was announced as the winner of the contest on July 24, violent comments have multiplied on recently posted and old photos on her Instagram profile. In addition to the insults, some say that she won first place through a quota and others say that she didn’t deserve the prize.

“I can’t believe it’s going to stop. When I am competing in Miss Brazil, it will continue, if not get worse,” she laments. That’s why she believes it’s important to file a complaint and make the case public. “Maybe one day we’ll be able to change this story. Maybe one day we won’t have to prove a thousand times that we deserve to be where we are,” she says.