As a strategy to escape criticism regarding the management of the climate disaster in Rio Grande do Sul, the Lula government called on the Federal Police (PF) to investigate publications with alleged “fake news” about the Executive’s actions. For experts, the use of police force, in addition to being unnecessary, can generate prior censorship and threaten the expression of legitimate opinions. The appropriate solution would be for the government to use state channels to clarify the information.
The request was made by Minister Paulo Pimenta, responsible for the Presidency’s Social Communication Secretariat (Secom), and accepted by Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, from the Justice and Public Security portfolio. According to the letter, Pimenta has been concerned about “the impact of these narratives on the credibility of institutions such as the Army, FAB, PRF and Ministries, which are crucial in responding to emergencies”. Document sent to the PF lists 11 topics bringing together cases of profiles that would be propagating “falsehoods”.
“Disinformation is fought with information. If it is content that there is some disagreement or something like that, it is fought with, at most, a request for the right to reply so that your version of the facts can be put aside. But, never, with a judicial investigation, with the opening of an investigation, threat or Federal Police”, says André Marsiglia, a lawyer specializing in freedom of expression.
One of the publications that distressed the government was published by journalist Fernanda Salles. On her profile on This tragedy highlighted the State’s ineffectiveness and lack of will to protect citizens.”
Fabrício Rebelo, a researcher in law and public security, explains that posts like this are just the opinions of ordinary people, protected in a democracy. Calling the police to investigate this type of demonstration goes against the rules of a Democratic State of Law and leads to censorship.
“It is an obvious attempt to censor critical opinion, something completely absurd under the country’s constitutional rules”, he states. “More than that, it is an explicit ideological persecution against government opponents, using the Federal Police to investigate facts that, even if they were true, would not be criminal, given that the general crime of ‘fake news’ does not exist in Brazil.” , he added.
Professor and master in Constitutional Law Rodrigo Marinho highlights that the measure exposes the government’s crooked priority, even more so in a time of calamity. “The government’s last priority should be to worry about its credibility in public opinion. Look at how much state machinery was involved in this action: the Secretariat of Communication, the Ministry of Justice, the government communication agency. All of them working on the last thing that should be the government’s concern,” he assessed.
“Government and Judiciary confuse opinions with facts”, says jurist
The fuss made by the Lula government about the request to investigate the publications also raises eyebrows among experts. The letter sent by Pimenta was published in full by Agência Brasil, a government news channel. The following day, the channel also promptly reported that the Ministry of Justice will investigate “possible crimes related to the dissemination of misinformation”.
The use of the word “disinformation” draws attention because it is not a legal concept, but something generic, which is subject to any interpretation. “Disinformation is not a concept from the legal universe, but an undue import from the communications area. There is no legislation that deals with disinformation or anything like that”, says Marsiglia.
For the expert, a central and recurring problem in the Judiciary and Executive powers is the confusion between facts and opinions. “Even if disinformation is judicialized, it cannot affect opinion. Calling opinions, complaints or comments about the government’s actions disinformation, in addition to being technically wrong, is censorious”, highlights Marsiglia.
Secom asks, for example, that political commentator Steh Papaiano be investigated for saying that “the ‘state’ as a centralizing entity has so far only delivered difficulty and inefficiency”. The government was also disturbed by messages on Telegram “criticizing the absence of ministers in the south of the country and condemning the First Lady’s trip to Rio de Janeiro for the Madonna concert” or saying that the Executive “was quick to use a FAB plane to take 125 tons of food to Cuba and this agility was not used in the case of RS”.
Another case included in Secom’s list was the comment by journalist Thiago Asmar, who stated that businessman Luciano Hang would be helping Rio Grande do Sul more than the federal government.
The profile “Pavão Misterious” was included in the list because it lists “businessmen who support Lula and who did not lift a finger to help the victims of Rio Grande do Sul”, mentioning the names of businessmen such as Luiza Trajano, Emilio and Marcelo Odebrecht, Joesley and Wesley Batista, and Jorge Paulo Lemmann.
Publications cited by Secom are from conservative profiles
The document lists 17 publications that must be investigated “to protect the integrity and effectiveness of our institutions in the face of such crises”. Most right-wing profiles.
Among the publications cited in the letter are those by conservative journalist Leandro Ruschel and senator Cleitinho (Republicanos-MG). Ruschel and other social media users should be investigated for publishing information that nine people had died in the ICU of the Hospital do Pronto Socorro in the city of Canoas. According to an article published by newspaper O Globothe information was released by the mayor of Canoas himself, Jairo Jorge (PSD), in a video on his social networks.
Later, Jorge corrected the information and reported that two people admitted to the ICU died, contrary to what he had said. Paulo Pimenta reinforces that Ruschel should have considered an article that denied the number of deaths. The report was published an hour before Ruschel’s demonstration. The commenter later posted another message, https://twitter.com/leandroruschel/status/1788309779867115695.
Cleitinho’s publication stated that the Rio Grande do Sul state secretariat would be blocking donation trucks due to lack of invoice. “Scumbags! They take these invoices and take them to the fifth of hell. If you can’t help, it doesn’t hurt whoever is helping you”, she complained. According to the RS government, there would be no collection of invoices for donations.
ANTT disagrees on possible fines for truck drivers
A case that illustrates the divergence of information typical of moments of ongoing tragedies is that of donation trucks that were stopped by employees of the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT). SBT filed a complaint that vehicles with products traveling towards Porto Alegre were being fined by ANTT. In the report in the newspaper “Tá na Hora”, the reporter spoke with truck drivers who showed the notifications received.
After the repercussions, ANTT released a clarification note stating that it would be a lie that trucks had been fined by the agency. The following day, however, the entity’s general director, Rafael Vitale, admitted the charges in six cases.
“There have been isolated cases of fines for being overweight on the scales in Araranguá, but these will not become a fine and will be duly annulled,” declared Vitale. Also this Wednesday, the organization published an ordinance with new inspection guidelines in order to speed up the arrival of donations to Rio Grande do Sul.
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