Minister André Mendonça, vice-president of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), ordered the removal of publications on social media that associated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with the PCC, Comando Vermelho and businessman Daniel Vorcaro, founder of Banco Master.
According to the Poder360 website, the decisions were taken on Friday (19), in actions presented by the Brazilian Federation of Hope, formed by PT, PCdoB and PV. Mendonça acts as an auxiliary electoral judge and reports representations related to possible irregularities in the presidential campaign.
According to monitoring of Lula and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaigns, the minister analyzed 7 requests involving the removal of content. Of these, 3 were in favor of the PT and 4 were in favor of the PL. All decisions will still be forwarded to the TSE plenary for evaluation.
PL Publications
In one of the actions, Mendonça ordered the suspension of the promotion of a video published by PL. The federation alleged that the content associated Lula with supposed services and actions of the PCC and Comando Vermelho. For the minister, electoral legislation does not prevent political criticism, but it prohibits the use of financial resources to promote material intended to disparage opponents.
Despite the decision, Mendonça did not accept a broad request to prevent future publications that link Lula to organized crime. According to him, the preliminary measure only applies to promoting the video analyzed in the process.
The minister also ordered the withdrawal of a publication by federal deputy Sóstenes Cavalcante, leader of the PL in the Chamber. The content stated that there was evidence that PCC money had financed the PT. For Mendonça, the publication made a serious accusation, without presenting any minimum support, in the context of an anticipated political-electoral dispute.
Another decision involved a post by Senator Marcos do Val. The content suggested a relationship between Lula and Daniel Vorcaro and used an apparently artificialized image of the president in a context of proximity to the businessman. When determining the removal, Mendonça stated that he was not prohibiting criticism of the government, the PT or political agents, but rather the maintenance of a specific publication with a possibly synthetic image, without clear identification of manipulation.
