Kim Kataguiri files AGU against Lula for misinformation – 01/27/2023 – Politics

Deputy Kim Kataguiri (União Brasil-SP) and councilor of São Bernardo do Campo (SP) Glauco Novello (PSD) filed a representation at the AGU (Advocacia Geral da União) against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) for misinformation .

In the play, they ask that Lula be held accountable for calling the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff (PT) a coup. The PT’s dismissal took place in 2016.

“When the President of the Republic goes on to publicly say that impeachment —a constitutionally foreseen procedure and an inseparable part of the system of checks and balances— is a coup, the population is disoriented”, says the piece.

On a trip to Uruguay, Lula said on Wednesday (25) that he received a country in bad conditions, “after the government of coup leader Michel Temer (MDB) and [Jair] Bolsonaro (PL)”.

“Contrary to what he said today at an international event, the country was not the victim of any coup. In fact, the penalty provided for those who violate the Constitution was applied,” replied Temer, in a note on the same day.

Using the AGU to combat fake news is one of the ideas of the Lula government itself, which is building the Office of the Democracy Attorney within the body. The sector should have its actions focused on combating misinformation.

The announcement of the new structure was made by the attorney general of the Union, Jorge Messias, but the lack of details on how the prosecution will act generated apprehensions and criticisms about what will be considered disinformation.

Complaints mainly came from opposition parliamentarians, including Kataguiri. “The Lula government created the National Prosecutor’s Office for the Defense of Democracy whose function is to ‘face disinformation’. Does anyone doubt that this will only serve as a thought patrol and censorship?”, wrote the deputy on his social networks.

The position of experts consulted by the Sheet on the performance of the Prosecutor’s Office was not consensual. Most point out that it can set a precedent that poses a risk to freedom of expression, given the possibility of being instrumentalized for judicial harassment against critics and opponents.

On the other hand, there are those who understand that, given a context of slowness and inertia by the PGR (Union Attorney General’s Office) and a moment of great political instability and risks to democracy, the adoption of this type of innovation is appropriate and proportionate.

In a decree with the structure of the new government, the judicial representation of the Union was placed among the powers of the attorney general’s office “in demands and procedures for responding to and confronting misinformation about public policies”.

There are still a series of uncertainties about how the unit will act and what its structure will be. There is also no decision on when it will actually start working.

It still needs, however, to be regulated and go through a public consultation, before starting to function formally.

A working group was created with the objective of contributing to the elaboration of this regulation. Its composition includes civil society entities and government agencies.