Moraes gives Meta 48 hours to send video published by Bolsonaro after January 8

Federal Supreme Court (STF) minister Alexandre de Moraes ordered this Tuesday (5) that Meta, Facebook’s controller, send the video shared by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) after the acts of January 8. The magistrate gave the company 48 hours to comply with the order.

On January 10, Bolsonaro posted a video in which a state prosecutor said that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) had not been elected by the Brazilian people, but “chosen by the electoral service, by the ministers of the STF and by the ministers of the Superior Electoral Court”.

The former president deleted the post shortly after publication. Moraes set a daily fine of R$100,000 if Meta does not comply with the decision. The minister highlighted that the post was requested from Facebook “on 01/13/2023 and again on 08/07/2023, without the video having been added to the file to date”.

Bolsonaro began to be investigated by the Supreme Court, due to the publication of the video, for alleged incitement to crimes against the Democratic Rule of Law, as part of the investigation that investigates the intellectual authorship of the acts of vandalism against the headquarters of the Three Powers. In April, the former president gave a statement to the Federal Police and said that the post was “accidental”.

At the time, lawyer Fabio Wajngarten reported that Bolsonaro was on medication and posted the video unintentionally. “When alerted, when he became aware of the post, he had not even realized that he had posted said content. As soon as he was alerted, he deleted the video”, he stated.

This Monday (4), the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) reiterated to the Court the request for Meta to present the video published by the former president.

“The material required from the company Meta Inc is essential for the holder of the criminal action [a PGR] can file a complaint against the former President of the Republic Jair Messias Bolsonaro”, wrote the minister. In August, Meta informed the STF that the publication “is not available on the company’s servers, making it impossible to comply with the order.”