The number of lawsuits filed by politicians against the press and social media has reached 90.
After the first 50 days of the election campaign, parties, coalitions, and candidates have already filed 90 complaints against journalists and radio broadcasters, TV and radio stations, newspapers, websites, and social media publications; of this total, in 70% of cases, the actions originate from the group led by Eduardo Amorim, the PSC candidate for governor; the coalitions “Agora Sim” and “Digo Sim a Sergipe,” Amorim himself, and his brother, Edivan Amorim, are the main authors of the complaints; while in the first month of the campaign, the opposition group filed 30 lawsuits against the press, now, the number of complaints against Facebook profiles has increased considerably.
Valter Lima, from Sergipe 247 - After the first 50 days of the election campaign, parties, coalitions, and candidates have already filed 90 complaints against journalists and radio broadcasters, TV and radio stations, newspapers, websites, and social media publications. Of these, 70% of the actions originate from the group led by Eduardo Amorim, the PSC candidate for governor. The coalitions “Agora Sim” and “Digo Sim a Sergipe,” Amorim himself, and his brother, Edivan Amorim, are the main authors of the complaints.
If in the first month of the campaign, as revealed by Sergipe 247 (read hereThe opposition group, which filed 30 lawsuits against the press, has now considerably increased its representations against Facebook profiles. Between August 13th and 23rd, Edivan Amorim alone filed 11 such lawsuits, arguing that he was the target of negative criticism and insults. He has filed lawsuits against the media monitoring company ComsensoWeb (which took his profile down) and against individuals, including journalists and politicians such as federal deputies Almeida Lima (PMDB) and Mendonça Prado (DEM).
Regarding the DEM congressman, the controversy has reached significant proportions. Mendonça accuses the coalition he belongs to of preventing him from appearing in electoral advertising on radio and TV. Because of this, the DEM member has been making almost daily criticisms against Eduardo and Edivan Amorim on social media. However, Mendonça himself has already gone to court to guarantee his right to appear in the electoral broadcasts. He obtained a favorable injunction, but the coalition continues to prevent him from appearing on radio and TV.
Of the 90 complaints filed by parties, candidates, and coalitions between July 6 and August 26, 62 were filed by Eduardo Amorim's group, while 28 came from the ticket headed by Governor Jackson Barreto.
Among the most recent lawsuits, there is one filed by the government candidate against Google, in which he requests the removal of two videos from the internet. The court partially granted the request and ordered the removal of the video that uses JB's campaign jingle and includes negative images against the government. Meanwhile, the "Agora Sim" coalition has filed new complaints against the newspaper Jornal do Dia, the Brasil 247 portal, and radio station 103 FM.
Most complaints request the right of reply, the application of fines, and even the suspension of the program or the removal of the station from the air. Many actions have been dismissed. There are even cases of lawsuits that have been archived. Most are still in process.
Interviewed by 247, the president of the National Federation of Journalists, Celso Schröder, said he sees "restriction and inhibition" of journalism in the actions of politicians. "These actions, by politicians during election time, escalating against journalists and media outlets, characterize a trend towards restricting their work. It's not quite censorship, because saying that is an exaggeration, but it is an inhibition of journalistic activity, which is harmful to democracy," Schröder stated.
He emphasizes that against the journalist's "exaggeration and error," mechanisms should be applied "a posteriori" and not prior prohibitions. "A blog taken offline, a newspaper prevented from mentioning certain candidates seems very harmful to me," he asserts (read the full interview). here).