Brazil Judge Restores 3.4M-Member Lula WhatsApp Channel
The channel has more than 3.4 million members and can operate until the full electoral court rules on the suspension.
- On Sunday, October 11, Superior Electoral Court rapporteur Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva provisionally restored the pro-Lula 'Exército do Lula' WhatsApp channel, overturning an earlier suspension order issued by court president Kassio Nunes Marques.
- Court president Kassio Nunes Marques had ordered the suspension after Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign alleged the channel spread disinformation about social benefits, arguing it operated as a 'command centre' for sharing knowingly untrue content.
- Federal deputy André Janones created the channel, which has more than 3.4 million members; Cueva wrote that suspending an entire channel requires proof of widespread and repeated conduct, implying authorities must first exhaust milder measures.
- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized the initial suspension as 'undue interference,' while Janones claimed 'censorship has already begun,' as the full Superior Electoral Court bench must now decide if the channel remains open through October 25.
- Prediction markets show Flávio Bolsonaro with an 87% chance of winning the October 25 presidential runoff; this legal dispute places US-owned Meta Platforms at the center of Brazil's electoral fight two weeks before the vote.
62 Articles
62 Articles
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal orders the closure of a whatsapp channel favorable to the president, after Bolsonaro complained that he was spreading false news against him.
JN: Government foresees a loss of two million euros. State of São Paulo: Rapporteur on the TSE maintains the channel ‘Army of Lula' in WhatsApp.
The president of the High Electoral Court was in contrast to the procedure already adopted by the minister Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva, broker of the organ
The TSE suspended Lula's propaganda associating Flávio Bolsonaro with the Master and Alfredo Gaspar case for a crime of rape filed for lack of evidence.
"We're not going to accept undue interference," says Paulista's acting president.
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