Moraes brings together public bodies at the TSE to combat “misinformation”

The president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes, will inaugurate, next Tuesday (10), the “Integrated Center for Combating Disinformation and Defense of Democracy”, or CIEDDE. According to the Court’s communications office, it will be a meeting of several public bodies to “combat misinformation, hateful, discriminatory and undemocratic speeches in the electoral sphere”.

Most of the members are from the TSE itself. In addition to Moraes, the group will include the general secretary of the TSE, Cleso Fonseca; general director, Rogério Galloro; the director of the TSE’s Electoral Judiciary School, minister Floriano Azevedo; the Secretary of Communication, Giselly Siqueira, the chief advisor of the TSE’s Special Advisory for Combating Disinformation, José Fernando Chuy, and two assistant judges – all linked or subordinate to the minister.

The Attorney General’s Office (PGR), the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) will be invited to participate. Its representatives will sign technical cooperation agreements.

Since the beginning of the year, Moraes has announced that he will toughen up the fight against “fake news” in the Electoral Court, including in partnership with Anatel – to remove content from the internet – and with the Ministry of Justice, to which the Federal Police are subordinate. – the minister has already said that he wants to “track” people who, according to him, threaten democracy with disinformation.

“Among the functions delegated to the center are the exchange of information between its members, in order to speed up communication between bodies, entities and social media platforms, and improve the implementation of preventive and corrective actions”, says the TSE.

The details will be communicated to the press next Tuesday, at the Court’s headquarters.

At the end of February, the TSE launched a new resolution on electoral propaganda that expands the police power of electoral judges, who will now also be able, on their own initiative, to remove content considered false by the Court from the internet. Social networks, in addition, will be obliged to monitor and remove this content, under the risk of being penalized. The rule anticipates rules not yet approved in the Censorship Bill, a bill that regulates social networks more rigorously.

In speeches, Moraes has already said that “digital militias” of the “extreme right” are today one of the biggest threats to democracy, with the use of social networks.