This period has been characterized by recurring cases of harassment and violence against journalists and media, with an organized and criminal method reminiscent of mafia practices. The objectives are to discredit journalistic investigations in a coordinated manner, destroy reputations, erode the personal assets of reporters, and provoke self-censorship.
Gabriela Biló and Thaísa Oliveira, from the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, suffered massive attacks on social networks due to their coverage of the coup events on January 8, 2023, in Brasilia. They were attacked on platforms where their data and photographs were exposed. They were accused of providing data to the Supreme Court about Débora dos Santos Rodrigues, the author of the graffiti on the statue "Justice."
Days earlier, reporter and columnist Thiago Herdy from UOL was followed and had his tax data, address, and family information exposed in an anonymous text published on a Wix platform site. The text mentioned the reporter's routine, with photos of his movements around the city. The article included false information and cited his investigations into alleged irregularities in emergency contracts of the São Paulo city hall during Ricardo Nunes' (MDB) first term.
Virtual attacks also targeted journalist Guilherme Amado. Federal Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) used his social networks to falsely insinuate that Amado caused the arrest of Filipe Martins, former advisor to then-President Jair Bolsonaro.
The attacks border on extreme violence. For example, journalist Paulo Motoryn, from Intercept Brasil, was threatened with death after publishing a report on a fugitive on January 8, 2023. The attackers used social networks to disclose the journalist's address and mention his family.
Notably, Brazilian institutions continue to function fully within the democratic framework, and cases of harassment of journalists and online misinformation are being judged. In February, the 43rd Civil Court of Justice of São Paulo ordered Federal Deputy Carla Zambelli (PL) to remove content from her social networks that defamed journalist Vera Magalhães from TV Cultura. The decision stated that the parliamentarian had disseminated false and offensive information about the journalist.
In February, photographer Bruno Santos, from Folha São Paulo, was assaulted by guards and leaders of the Bloco Acadêmicos do Baixo Augusta in São Paulo (SP). After receiving kicks from the guards who tried to prevent him from documenting a conflict with carnival spectators, the journalist was mistreated by the block's president, Alexandre Natacci, who did not want the incident reported. The assault on the photographer occurred hours after journalist and writer Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the block's standard-bearer, was assaulted by two men while receiving a tribute from Baixo Augusta for his work. Son of Rubens and Eunice Paiva, Marcelo is the author of the book "Ainda Estou Aqui," which inspired the Oscar-winning film.
In March, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) refined its understanding of the conditions under which media outlets can be held civilly liable—i.e., for the payment of moral damages—if media publish an interview in which the interviewee falsely attributes the commission of a crime (slander) to another person. Objective criteria for liability and content removal were established, representing a significant advance and reducing the possibility of erroneous and costly judgments in the first instance. The decision was made in appeals (declarations of embargo) presented in the general repercussion thesis established in Extraordinary Appeal (RE) 1075412 (Theme 995). In the requests analyzed by the STF, Diario de Pernambuco and the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) questioned the thesis established in 2023 by the STF, considering that some points were generic and could lead to cases of censorship. That year, the Supreme Court decided that newspapers could be held liable in cases of slander, defamation, or libel uttered by the interviewee.
Now, in plenary, the collegiate reaffirmed that the journalistic company can only be held civilly liable if its lousy faith is proven, characterized by prior knowledge of the falsehood of the statement or by evident negligence in investigating the information, without giving the offended third party the possibility of response or, at least, seeking the contradictory.
It was also established that the media could be held liable if the content with the false accusation is not removed from digital platforms on its initiative or after notification by the victim. It was also established that, in live interviews, the media should not be held liable for statements made by the interviewee. However, to do so, it must ensure the person falsely attributed the commission of the crime the right to reply under equal conditions, space, and prominence.
In the case that motivated the judgment, former federal deputy Ricardo Zarattini Filho, who died in 2017, sued Diario de Pernambuco after being accused by an interviewee of participating in a bomb attack during the military dictatorship at Recife-Guararapes airport. The newspaper was ordered to compensate the militant.
The Rio de Janeiro Justice ordered the removal of a 2023 article from the Metrópoles portal that mentioned Marfan Martins Vieira, former Attorney General of Justice of the State, now retired, in an alleged bribery scheme. He filed an action against the media and journalist Arthur Guimarães, the author of the text, and requested compensation of 130 thousand reais for moral damages. The case is still pending judgment.
In February, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) filed a public civil action against the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (IURD) for damage to the judicial system, access to justice, and freedom of expression and press, considering the judicial harassment against journalist João Paulo Cuenca. The lawsuit, by pastors of the Church, included more than a hundred lawsuits against media outlets in 19 states for a tweet published by the journalist in June 2020. For the MPF Citizen Rights prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro, the massive filing of lawsuits represented an abusive exercise of the right to petition and access to justice, in addition to violating freedom of expression and press through a strategy to silence and constrain the message sender and journalistic work.
Journalist and presenter Luciana Barreto, from TV Brasil, was the target of offenses in Portuguese and Spanish after criticizing the statement in March by the president of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol), Alejandro Domínguez when he said that the Copa Libertadores de América without Brazil would be like "Tarzan without Chita." The racist comment had worldwide repercussions.
Luciana Barreto, the presenter and editor-in-chief of Repórter Brasil Tarde, is a specialist in the subject of which she now becomes a victim. She wrote the book "Hate Speech Against Blacks on Social Networks," which was a finalist for the Jabuti Academic Award.
In December, journalist Natuza Nery, from GloboNews, was shopping at a supermarket in Pinheiros, São Paulo, when she was repeatedly offended by a civil police officer who stated that people like her should be "annihilated." The Civil Police Internal Affairs opened an investigation to examine the agent's conduct.
Pedro Vaca, the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (RELE) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), visited the country between February 9 and 14 at the federal government's invitation.
During the meetings, the government accused followers of former President Jair Bolsonaro of promoting disinformation and hate on social networks, as well as attacking the rule of law. It also defended the regulation of digital platforms as a way to prevent "concrete acts of violence." The opposition criticized the judiciary's conduct in investigating anti-democratic acts in the country. Parliamentarians accused Supreme Federal Court (STF) Minister Alexandre de Moraes and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration of carrying out a "political persecution" and undermining freedom of thought through arrests and social media blockages.
