World
BRASIL Brazil’s TSE removed campaign ads that broadly linked Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro to organized crime
Brazil’s top electoral court set limits on generic attempts to tie candidates to criminal factions. The judges also warned about a sharp rise in campaign-related litigation.
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court removed campaign materials that broadly associated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro with criminal organizations, and said that this kind of attack must stay within the bounds of political debate and be grounded in facts.
According to O Globo, the ruling came from the full bench of the TSE amid a growing legal battle between the campaigns. Court president Kassio Nunes Marques said there was excessive judicialization and reported that the number of cases has already risen 217% compared with the same stage of the previous election.
One of the cases involved an ad that portrayed Lula, who is seeking reelection, as a protector and friend of the Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho. Lula’s legal team argued that the content went beyond political criticism and created a false narrative that harmed his honor and public image, with potential to spread disinformation.
O Globo reported that Justice André Mendonça, the rapporteur, found the association unjustified. He said campaigns may argue that certain policies help or hurt organized crime, but cannot claim personal ties to those groups without specific supporting facts.
The justices also struck down another ad that used a statement by Lula to connect him to the PCC and Comando Vermelho. In that case, the court held that public remarks can be criticized, but objected to the way they were framed to suggest support for criminal organizations.
The TSE also ordered the removal of social media posts by lawmakers allied with Lula that linked Flávio Bolsonaro to organized crime. According to O Globo, the posts suggested ties to militias, drug traffickers and members of criminal factions.
The court deemed some images unlawful because of improper association, including those involving Ronald Paulo Alves Pereira, TH Joias, Rodrigo Bacelar, Índio do Lixão and Gutemberg Fonseca. At the same time, it found no irregularities in other references, such as images concerning Daniel Vorcaro and Adriano da Nóbrega, considering them part of political criticism tied to facts from Flávio Bolsonaro’s public trajectory.
Still, the entire post was taken down because it had been published as a carousel on social media, combining images the court viewed as acceptable with others it did not. The justices said the unobjectionable material could be reposted separately, O Globo reported.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
