The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in São Paulo launched today (9) a civil inquiry to investigate the behavior of the Jovem Pan group in disseminating fakenews and encourage undemocratic acts against Brazilian institutions. The opening ordinance of the inquiry is signed by the Regional Prosecutor for the Deputy Citizen’s Rights in São Paulo, Yuri Corrêa da Luz.
According to the document, the communication group has broadcast, without evidence, disinformational content with the potential to undermine citizens’ trust in Brazilian institutions. “Rede Jovem Pan, in several of its programs, began to broadcast numerous speeches with the potential to encourage and even instigate anti-democratic acts against them, based on the widespread distrust of the suitability of the country’s judicial institutions and the health of democratic processes”, says the document.
The text highlights, for example, that, in the program Drops on the Isaired on December 22, commentator Pedro Figueiredo aired fakenews on the elections and defended the civil war in the country. “Or do we accept an election without transparency, without legitimacy, without the confidence of the population, or do we accept all of this, and lower our heads, or will we have a civil war?”. “Then let there be civil war, dammit! ”, says the document.
The ordinance also points out that, in the coverage of acts of terrorism that occurred in Brasília yesterday, commentators from Jovem Pan minimized the content of institutional rupture of the acts and tried to justify the motives of the criminals who invaded and destroyed the headquarters of the Three Powers.
The MPF also highlighted that the Brazilian Telecommunications Code is clear in providing that freedom of broadcasting does not exclude the punishment of those who commit abuses in its exercise.
“Article 53 of the said code provides that it constitutes abuse in the exercise of freedom of broadcasting its use for the commission of a crime or misdemeanor provided for in the legislation in force in the country or judicial decisions, including: inciting disobedience to the laws; to propagandize war or processes of subversion of the political and social order; fan rebellion or indiscipline in the armed forces or public security organizations; broadcast false and social news, with danger to public order” .
The MPF sent an official letter ordering Jovem Pan to provide, within 15 days, detailed information about its programming and the personal data of the program presenters and commentators Jovem Pan News, Morning Show, Os Pingos nos Is, Alexandre Garcia, and Jovem Pan 3 em 1.
The full text of the inquiry opening ordinance can be read on here.
The Jovem Pan Group was sought to manifest, but has not yet responded. On its social networks, Jovem Pan reported that Antonio Augusto Amaral de Carvalho Filho, known as Tutinha, left the group’s presidency today. According to the statement, he will remain on the company’s Board of Directors, “with the mission of preserving the principles and values that have guided the Jovem Pan Group for eighty years.”
