The Superior Electoral Court of Brazil (TSE) decided this Thursday to open an investigation against Carlos Bolsonaro, son of President Jair Bolsonaro, for alleged dissemination of disinformation on social networks.
The TSE thus accommodated the request of Inspector General Benedito Gonçalves, who on Tuesday asked to investigate Carlos Bolsonaro, a councilman from Rio de Janeiro, for the alleged use of his social networks to spread “fake news” for political purposes.
The list of people to investigate not only includes Carlos Bolsonaro, but also the president himself, who thus faces a new controversy when there are only 10 days left for the second round in which he aspires to revalidate his mandate.
The head of the body, Alexandre de Moraes, announced that, given the “increase in fraudulent news” and hate speech in the campaign for the second round, he will invite representatives of the two presidential campaigns to a talk
In addition, Inspector General Gonçalves requested to target some thirty social network profiles suspected of spreading disinformation about the electoral process, according to the local newspaper O Globo.
For the inspector, heThe suspects would have disseminated erroneous information about the electoral process, and the disclosure of this information could constitute crimes of abuse of political power, economic power and misuse of the media.
In the original request, Gonçalves pointed out that he had evidence that the vast majority of this false news was aimed at former president and opposition candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Carlos Bolsonaro reacted almost immediately to the TSE’s decision, with a message on his networks in which he warns that “censorship in Brazil walks with long stepswith organisms tearing up the laws that govern the order of the country”.
The list of people to investigate not only includes Carlos Bolsonaro, but also the president himself, who thus faces a new controversy when there are only 10 days left for the second round in which he aspires to revalidate his mandate.
The Court also unanimously approved a resolution that gives more speed to the Electoral Justice to eliminate false news from websites and social networks.
the body holder, Alexandre de Moraes announced this Thursday that, given the “increase in fraudulent news” and hate speech in the campaign for the second round, he will invite representatives of the two presidential campaigns to a talk.
“There was a growth of 1,671% in the volume of complaints and disinformation sent to digital platforms, compared to the last election, in 2020,” De Moraes warned, according to the state agency Brasil.
