Dean of the STF says that strategies aimed to keep the extreme right in power; he defended the regulation of social networks
The minister of (Supreme Federal Court) Gilmar Mendes stated this Wednesday (8.jan.2025), at an event commemorating the 2nd anniversary of the 8th of January, that the government of the former president (PL) disseminated “hate speech, political fanaticism and the disinformation industry”.
“This reaction [atos extremistas] it stems from impulses that had already been widely disseminated during the previous administration: hate speech, political fanaticism and the disinformation industry – strategies designed by the extreme right to preserve power”he stated. Read the of the speech (PDF – 205 kB).
The Dean of the Court made the statement when speaking about the motivation for extremist acts. According to him, the “reverberation of a creeping ideology” emerged as a reaction “violent” to the electoral victory of the president (PT), leading to the invasion of the headquarters of the Three Powers, in Brasília.
Gilmar stated that reports show that January 8, 2023 caused material and immaterial damage of approximately R$4 million in the National Congress, R$8 million in the Palácio do Planalto and R$12 million not Supreme. The values do not take into account non-material damage resulting from the destruction of works of art and rare objects.
The STF minister also stated that the attack on the offices of the Three Powers was prompted by widespread mobilization on social media. He stated that political radicalism was already present in the 2018 elections, when “a campaign” He used platforms extensively to, according to him, spread hate, personal attacks and conspiracy theories.
This strategy would have influenced the official communication of the Palácio do Planalto, under Bolsonaro’s management, and the speech of his political group that “radicalized the debate through the criminalization of opposition, contempt for otherness and systematic attacks on institutions”.
Gilmar Mendes defended the need for network regulation “robusta”as in European Union countries and the United Kingdom, and rejected the idea of “censorship”.
“We are thus witnessing the consolidation of a constitutional movement, which enshrines the protection of fundamental rights in the digital sphere and imposes on social networks a duty of care regarding the dissemination of illicit content. This normative trajectory can never be confused with censorship. Quite the contrary: it represents not only a legal evolution, but constitutes the cornerstone on which a democratic and pluralistic digital sphere is built, capable of harmonizing freedom of expression with social responsibility in the virtual environment”these.
