Government supporters pressure and Moraes silences Telegram speech

Despite the constant argument by members of the highest leadership of the Lula government that the approval of the so-called “PL das Fake News” would not be used to censor opinions contrary to government agendas, the attitude of ministers and government leaders in relation to the Telegram case was precisely in the opposite direction.

Since the launch of a message written by the company to Brazilian users of the application criticizing the bill, government supporters began to demand, through various means, that the company’s arguments be silenced. And the “urgency” of approving the Fake News PL was repeatedly mentioned to reinforce the need to curb “certain positions”.

The strategy was not restricted to the first and second echelon of the government, but gained the support of allies in Congress and, even more, of pro-government influencers, who on social networks began to press for an “urgent response from Justice” – without showing what would have been the crime committed by the platform.

Telegram’s silencing attempts were successful: less than 24 hours after the message was sent via the application, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ordered the company to delete the statement. He also determined that the application should convey to all its users a new message written by the minister himself saying that the previous one was about disinformation.

In the decision, Moraes avoided explaining the reasons why the message would configure misinformation and threatened to block the application used by 65% ​​of Brazilians across the country if the order was not met. In line with the government, the STF minister is a staunch defender of the regulation of social networks and, like representatives of the Executive, last week used the power of the State to order the immediate removal of ads that were against the Fake PL News.

It is worth mentioning that the Telegram message mentioned precisely the risk of silencing opinions that the government would consider “unacceptable” after the approval of the bill.

Pressure for censorship came from ministers and government leaders

The leader of the government in Congress, Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP) was the first to take the case to the STF asking for the removal of the content. One of the parliamentarian’s requests was that the application be included in the so-called “Fake News Inquiry” under the allegation that the platform would be “manipulating public opinion in favor of its interests”.

The Minister of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic, Paulo Pimenta, said that the company’s position was “unbelievable” and that “legal measures” would be taken.

On the other hand, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino – a staunch supporter of the bill, who recently spread fake news to reinforce the narrative that there would be a persecution by big techs of users favorable to the Fake News PL – took to social media to announce that “legal measures are being taken against this empire of lies and aggression”.

Last Tuesday (2), the date initially scheduled for the Fake News PL to be voted on in the Chamber, Dino had already used the power of the State to remove a publication from Google with criticism of the bill. At the time, Lula’s minister demanded that the company publish a counter-advertisement with messages favorable to the Fake News PL under penalty of a fine of BRL 1 million per hour of non-compliance.

Ricardo Cappelli, executive secretary of the Ministry of Justice and known as the “number 2” of the folder, declared that the message released by the company constituted “mass shooting of lies” and amended by defending the approval of the bill to regulate platforms of social networks.

Another to use the power of the State to curb Telegram’s speech was the holder of the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacom), Wadih Damous. On Tuesday afternoon, he reported that Senacom would notify Telegram questioning the publication of the message.

Pro-government lawmakers called for Telegram censorship claiming “defense of democracy”

In addition to the offensive by the government summit, a number of parliamentarians who support the Lula government also began to reinforce criticisms and requests for the removal of the statement from the messaging application. Federal deputy Erika Kokay (PT-DF) mentioned, on social networks, the need for “appropriate measures so that this false information does not continue to circulate”.

Deputy Orlando Silva (PCdoB-SP), rapporteur for the Fake News PL, said that he would “act so that there is a response, not only from the Legislative Branch, but from the Judiciary and the Executive” against Telegram. For him, the company’s message is an “attack on democracy”.

Deputy Zeca Dirceu (PT-PR), leader of the PT in the Chamber, said that “this disloyal attitude only shows the importance of approving the regulation soon”, suggesting that the bill would prevent a position like this from the company. The parliamentarian also went so far as to say that “the application was suspended last week for protecting criminals who propagate Nazism”, an argument reinforced by deputy André Janones (Avante-MG), who stated that if the Fake News PL is not approved, “environments like this one will continue to be used to plan murders of children and teachers in schools”.

At the end of April, the application was suspended from the country due to the understanding of the Federal Court of Espírito Santo that the company would not have provided the Federal Police with data on neo-Nazi groups on the platform. The operation of the application was restored days later by Justice.

A day before the block was lifted, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov issued a statement on the suspension of the application in Brazil. According to Durov, a court in Brazil requested data that is “technologically impossible” for the platform to obtain.

In the statement, he mentioned cases of other countries, such as China, Iran and Russia, which blocked Telegram. “In cases where local laws go against this mission [preservação da privacidade e a liberdade de expressão] or impose technologically unfeasible requirements, we sometimes have to leave such markets. In the past, countries like China, Iran and Russia have banned Telegram due to our principled position on the issue of human rights. Such events, while unfortunate, are still preferable to the betrayal of our users and the beliefs we were founded on,” explained Durov.

Pro-government influencers created an offensive against Telegram on social media

Finally, the app was also targeted by various profiles of pro-government digital influencers, who tend to influence public debate by defending agendas of interest to the government.

Minutes after the release of the statement, Felipe Neto – who last week joined the so-called “Conselhão” of the Lula government – ​​said on social media that the arguments on Telegram constituted “disinformation” and asked that “Brazilian justice act with the maximum rigor of the law against this absurdity”. The post reached over 2 million people on Twitter.

The profile called Choquei, which has more than 19 million followers on Instagram alone and supported Lula during last year’s election campaign, made posts naming the app’s allegations as false.

However, the majority reaction to the publications is favorable to the app’s discourse. “She [a plataforma] is exercising the right of expression. But now everything is fake news, except the posts that speak well of the current government”, says a follower of the Choquei profile. “Where have you ever seen an app come out saying something that was not allowed by the government?”, ironizes another.

Comments critical of the attempt to silence Telegram’s position were also constant in publications by members and allies of the Lula government. The post, by Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, of a cartoon equating the Telegram message with a Nazi practice was one that drew a barrage of criticism.

“Rarely have I seen such an unfortunate comment on this network. In addition to minimizing the suffering of a war, you forget that censorship also kills a lot”, says a follower in response to the publication. The post was also criticized for being disrespectful to victims of the Nazi regime. “This relativization of one of the most terrible and bloodthirsty regimes in history is a terrible disrespect to the memory of the millions of victims who were persecuted and killed by Nazism”, opines another user.

“Lula needs to shut up the internet because he can’t control it”, says congressman

After the offensive against the Telegram statement, deputy Kim Kataguiri (União Brasil-SP) – who last week sued the Attorney General’s Office against Flávio Dino for abuse of authority after the minister ordered Google to delete posts critical of the PL das Fake News – assessed the strategy as a harbinger of how the social media regulation project would work.

“Someone will decide if something is true or false and then censorship will roll loose, with the right to fines and ‘socio-educational’ measures”. “They want those most affected by the bill to simply shut up and accept it. firm in this fight. Lula needs to silence the internet because he cannot control it”, he continued.