Miami (August 12, 2026) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expresses alarm over judicial measures that allowed authorities to identify and target a source of Brazilian journalist Luís Pablo Conceição Almeida, who runs Blog do Luís Pablo. The organization warns that violating professional confidentiality poses a serious threat to the practice of journalism and sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom in Brazil.
Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered searches and seizures on August 11 targeting former Maranhão Public Security Secretary Raimundo Cutrim, whom the Federal Police identified as an information source for the journalist. According to Cutrim’s defense, the measure was based on an analysis of electronic devices seized from Luís Pablo during a search conducted in March. The IAPA warned at the time that there was a risk of weakening journalists’ ability to investigate matters of public interest and creating an intimidating effect. The operation also targeted the journalist’s attorney.
The measures are related to reports published by Luís Pablo about the alleged use of official vehicles belonging to the Maranhão Court of Justice by STF Justice Flávio Dino and his family members. Authorities are investigating, among other matters, how the information related to those reports was obtained and disclosed. The allegations concerning the alleged improper use of vehicles and the other circumstances of the case are under investigation.
IAPA President Pierre Manigault said it was “particularly serious that the investigation was able to reach a journalistic source by examining devices seized from a journalist.” Manigault, of Evening Post Publishing Inc., in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, stressed that “protecting confidential sources is not a privilege granted to journalists, but an essential safeguard that allows citizens to provide information of public interest without fear of retaliation. We urge Brazilian authorities to ensure full respect for professional confidentiality and press freedom, and to review decisions that may compromise the confidentiality of sources and the protection of journalistic materials.”
Martha Ramos, chair of the IAPA’s Press and Information Freedom Commission, added that “source confidentiality is a necessary and inviolable tool for the practice of journalism.” Ramos, of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), said that “allowing a journalist’s equipment to be used to identify sources sets a precedent with serious repercussions for the entire press. If sources cannot trust that their identities will be protected, one of the essential conditions for investigative journalism is weakened, directly affecting society’s right to receive information of public interest.”
The IAPA maintains that violating professional confidentiality contravenes international treaties and fundamental principles of press freedom. In this regard, it reiterated that Article 3 of the IAPA’s Chapultepec Declaration states: “No journalist may be forced to reveal his or her sources of information,” while Clause 8 of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression provides: “Every social communicator has the right to keep his or her sources of information, notes, and personal and professional files confidential.” IAPA leaders said that any state action that violates this safeguard must be subjected to particularly rigorous scrutiny because of its potential consequences for press freedom.
Local organizations ANJ (National Association of Newspapers), ABERT (Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters), and ANER (National Association of Magazine Publishers) stated in a joint statement that the measure is “concerning” and could affect the constitutional guarantee of source confidentiality, which must apply regardless of the media outlet or its editorial line. They warned that violating this guarantee could constitute an attack on the free exercise of journalism.
The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
