For jokes, Léo Lins loses social networks and becomes a defendant in a criminal case

Comedian Léo Lins, who in May this year had a comedy special censored by the São Paulo court, became a defendant in a criminal case for making jokes with groups considered to be minorities.

Léo Lins also had accounts at youtube and not TikTok overturned for 90 days and, also, the amount of R$ 300,000 blocked from their bank accounts to pay fines for non-compliance with a court decision. The decision was taken by the Department for Crimes of Violence against Infants, Elderly People, People with Disabilities and Victims of Internal Trafficking in Persons (Sanctvs) of the Court of Justice of São Paulo, at the request of the Public Ministry of São Paulo (MP-SP) . The process runs in secrecy of justice.

The alleged failure to comply with a court order has to do with a decision handed down in May by Judge Gina Fonseca Correa. On the occasion, in addition to the censorship of the comedy special that had 3.3 million hits, the magistrate also ordered the comedian to delete all videos, images and texts that contained “derogatory or humiliating content” in relation to “any category considered as a minority or vulnerable” under penalty of BRL 10,000 per day for non-compliance.

At the same time, it imposed prior censorship by prohibiting the comedian from making any kind of joke against groups considered to be minority or vulnerable in his shows, with the same amount of fine for non-compliance at each event that occurred. The São Paulo court considers that the comedian failed to comply with the measures.

At the time, the judge decided to accept the arguments of the Public Ministry of São Paulo (MP-SP), which claimed that the comedian was “reproducing speeches and positions that are now repudiated”, mentioning in his jokes themes such as slavery, religious persecution, minorities and elderly and disabled people.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office resorted to the “anti-joke law” sanctioned by Lula to ask Léo Lins to be punished

The complaint by the Public Ministry to Justice mentions the so-called “anti-joke law”, sanctioned by President Lula (PT) in January, which, among other measures, defines the telling of jokes about groups that may be considered a minority as a crime of racism. The new rules provide that the maximum penalty for jokes with these groups will be higher than for crimes such as theft and kidnapping.

One of the sections of the rule sanctioned by Lula determines that the crimes provided for in the Racism Law will now have their penalties increased by one-third to one-half “when they occur in context or with the intention of relaxation, fun or recreation”. The law also determines that if the practice of alleged racism occurs in the context of artistic or cultural activities aimed at the public, the author will also be prohibited from attending these places for three years.

As shown by People’s Gazetteone of the risks for the possible framing of merely jocular statements as racism, which are part of the humorous activity on stand-up stages, for example, is that the law provides a wide range for conduct that can be considered criminal at the same time where it does not specify which groups the jokes are banned from.

In May, when the comedian was censored for the first time, some of the main comedians in the country, from different political backgrounds, took a stand against censorship and pointed out the serious risks of the decision to humorous activity and freedom of expression.

The report tried to contact Léo Lins and his lawyer, but there was no response.