Alexandre Aragão de Albuquerque avatar

Alexandre Aragão de Albuquerque

Writer and Master in Political Science from the State University of Ceará (UECE).

156 Articles

HOME > blog

Lies exist.

Orchestrated lies, illegal espionage, and digital manipulation mark the legacy of Bolsonaro's political movement, as exposed in decisions by the Supreme Federal Court and the Federal Police.

Lies exist (Photo: Antonio Cruz/Agência Brasil)

Do not think that it is your brilliant minds or your inspired ideas that guide your lives. It is your habits. Habits have an enormous capacity to imprison human action. Let us cultivate the good ones, because bad habits enslave us mercilessly. (YOGANANDA, Paramahansa)

I. Digital Tyranny - Lies exist. It's false to claim that everything is a matter of opinion. Minimizing lies as if they were something secondary, minor, or even anecdotal can be a profoundly harmful attitude for life in contemporary societies.

For example, it's one thing to imagine that the Electoral Court doesn't function ideally as one would like; but it's quite another, absolutely different thing, to assert and disseminate, through various digital means, as has recently occurred, systematically and in a structured way throughout the Bolsonaro administration, that there is a [unclear/unclear] within the TSE (Superior Electoral Court). A dark room where judges manipulate the source code of the electronic voting machines. This is a lie, and a lie that is criminally punishable.

In a ruling by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) on June 11, 2025, Justice Flávio Dino delivered a landmark opinion in the plenary session in favor of holding social media networks responsible for illegal content posted by their users, even without a prior court order.

Dino argued that freedom is a central value, and freedom (including freedom of expression) without responsibility is... tyranny. Ultimately, we are all bound by a constitutional concept of freedom. Even married couples, in exercising their freedom, must submit to the precepts established by the Constitution.

The Minister exemplified this: People are not obligated to believe in God. What cannot happen is that, in any medium, including digital ones, believers, in the name of freedom of expression, claim to... to slander, attack, punish or exterminate Those who are agnostic regarding the existence of God. Therefore, it is impossible for a Court (such as the Supreme Federal Court), which has the obligation to express the best values ​​that humanity has been able to produce, in the philosophical and scientific fields, as well as in the field of spirituality, to find itself confronted with falsehood and minimize it.

According to Flávio Dino, the platforms have a duty to active surveillance In cases of particularly serious content, they can be held liable even without judicial notification when dealing with fake profiles, bots, or boosted posts. This burden is part of the risk of capitalist business, comparable to the need for security systems like those in banks and shopping malls.

II. Espionage as State Policy - On June 26, 2023, an investigation process was initiated by the Federal Police (PF) based on PET 11108/DF, filed as a precautionary measure related to Inquiry 4.781/DF, following a report in the newspaper O Globo on March 14, 2023, under the title “"Abin confirms the use of a secret program that monitored targets during the Bolsonaro administration."

The accusation is serious: using the Brazilian state's intelligence structure to illegally monitor political opponents, serving personal interests and spreading false information about the electoral system. These actions are similar to those of dictatorial governments, demonstrating just how perverse Bolsonaro and his gang are in their objectives and their habit of blatantly lying. This is just the tip of a large iceberg.

On June 12, 2025, the police authority forwarded the Final Investigation Report to the case file. To prevent the continuation of selective leaks that were occurring, and to avoid prejudice to the procedural investigation, on June 18, the reporting judge, Alexandre de Moraes, ordered the lifting of the confidentiality of the main case file of Pet. 11108/DF, including the Final Report of the Federal Police.

The Final Report on the so-called 'Parallel Abin' revealed, with ample and compelling material evidence, the existence of a criminal organization operating within the Brazilian Intelligence Agency with members of the Bolsonaro government.

According to the document, this criminal structure was used to illegally spy on ordinary citizens, federal employees, journalists, businesspeople, and authorities from the Judiciary, Legislative, and Executive branches. Furthermore, this criminal organization sought the widespread dissemination of... lies (fake news) as a way to systematically persecute those she considered her political adversaries.

The Federal Police indicted 36 people, including:

Carlos Bolsonaro (Strategic Core: top of the organization, where the main decisions were made) - Head of the Hate Cabinet. He was part of the central political core of the criminal organization, directly benefiting from classified information illegally obtained by ABIN, a Brazilian state institution. He allegedly had a strong influence on the appointment of federal police officer Alexandre Ramagem to head the agency and acted as a link between the so-called "Hate Cabinet" and the illegal espionage structure. He was also identified as a recipient of the intelligence reports used for... attack those considered adversaries on digital networks.

Alexandre Ramagem (Operational Core: responsible for intelligence and surveillance actions) - As the former director-general of ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), he is accused of having led the parallel criminal structure within the agency. He allegedly authorized... the use of with Israeli spy First Mile – Acquired without public bidding – to illegally monitor Supreme Court justices, members of parliament, journalists, and public servants. The Federal Police also alleges that he attempted to obstruct investigations. His management was central to the functioning of the criminal scheme.

Flávio Bolsonaro – The Federal Police discovered an audio recording of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in August 2020 between Jair Bolsonaro, Alexandre Ramagem, and some advisors. The conversation discussed how to use the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) for... shield Flavio In the case of the "rachadinhas" (a scheme involving the misappropriation of public funds), it was even suggested that administrative proceedings be opened against auditors from the Federal Revenue Service who prepared the report that formed the basis of the investigation. ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) also allegedly produced guidance reports for Flávio's defense.'Parallel intelligence agency': investigation uncovered clandestine audio recording between Bolsonaro and Ramagem..

Jair Renan – He appears in the report as one of the indirect beneficiaries of the illegal espionage structure. The investigation indicates that ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) acted to gather information that could favor his political activities and protect him from investigations.

Jair Bolsonaro (Strategic Core) - The report indicates that he, while president of the Republic, was fully aware of the criminal scheme and was its main beneficiary.A report by the Federal Police states that Bolsonaro was aware of an illegal espionage scheme within ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency).).

It is noteworthy that espionage against Federal Revenue Service employees was one of the most nefarious actions identified by the Federal Police. According to the Final Report, these employees were intensively monitored through the program. FirstMile, which allowed for the tracking of cell phones in real time. The objective was to identify potential weaknesses in the servers in order to initiate administrative proceedings to discredit them. The Israeli software was used in more than 60 thousand Searches against targets during the Bolsonaro administration.

Finally, the organizational chart of the criminal organization showed... Hate CabinetUnder the command of Carlos Bolsonaro, responsible for defining targets through narratives and attack strategies, this group was composed of intelligence and communication operators. There was a Content Production Unit, responsible for creating texts, videos, memes, and posts for digital networks, systematically adjusting the messages according to the theme or political situation.

To achieve this, the Hate Cabinet used fake profiles, allied influencers, and alternative channels. Actively operating on networks such as Twitter (X), Instagram, Whatsapp, Telegram, employing artificial engagement tactics (bots, orchestrated hashtags), manipulating digital monitoring and tracking tools, and able to access confidential data or leak sensitive information. A true dictatorial device of social control.

Let no one be mistaken, the defense of democracy is a permanent task for good people. Justice and freedom can only be achieved through hard, honest, transparent, and continuous work. Without hesitation. Everyone must strongly engage in the fight against this far-right that insists on trying to suffocate Brazilian democracy with its lying tentacles.

* This is an opinion article, the responsibility of the author, and does not reflect the opinion of Brasil 247.