Mynd8 says he is a victim of fake news and does not interfere in the content of agents

Mynd8, the agency responsible for 34 entertainment and political activism profiles and more than 400 artists and influencers, stated this Thursday (4) that it does not interfere with the content published by its agents. In a statement published on Instagram, the company said that it is “suffering numerous organized and systematic attacks of hate, lies and the dissemination of fake news”.

Among the profiles managed by the so-called “Banca Digital”, from Mynd8, are Garoto do Blog and Alfinetadas dos Famosos, identified by digital influencers, such as Daniel Penin, as those responsible for distributing, together with the Choquei profile, false content that would have led Jéssica Vitória Canedo, 22 years old, committing suicide (understand the case here).

“We handle exclusively the intermediation of advertising sales on social media profiles and do not participate at any time in defining the personal content posted on the profiles of the creators we serve,” argued the agency. Mynd8 highlighted that it does not “own” any news profile and that all agents are “free, totally independent”.

Activity on social media

Despite claiming that it does not interfere in the creation of content by agents, Mynd is accused of using its numerous accounts to disseminate similar content for commercial interests – ranging from speaking highly of a soap opera under contract with a TV station or a participant of Big Brother Brasil that is part of the company’s catalogue, for example – or politicians, speaking good or bad about political figures or causes.

The “Democracy Influencers” group, formed by owners of entertainment profiles that support Lula, has several accounts that are managed by Mynd8; several of them have already disseminated fake news about politics in a very similar way in terms of date and time, content and aesthetics of the post, as shown in this article.

A survey by the Núcleo.Jor website showed, in 2022, the high rate of coordination between posts from profiles that have a contract with the agency. “The pages made 1,472 posts in the period, of which 694 (47.1%) were repeated. The survey considered repeated posts about the same subject, fact or event that appeared on more than one profile with similar captions or images. In total, 194 topics were posted repeatedly, and each one appeared on between 3 and 4 profiles, on average”, says an excerpt from the survey.

The company’s CEO, Fatima Pissara revealed, in an interview with the newspaper The globe in May this year, which in times of crisis usually “brings together other agents to help”. Asked whether the agency had a “crisis office” to deal with controversial issues, Pissara said: “Yes. We provide legal support, bring together other agents to help and try to control the person. I always say: don’t read comments. Do what your purpose is, disseminate and move forward. I’ve had crisis management of spending three, four days with a team working 24 hours a day, deleting insulting comments. It’s very painful.”

Mynd8 says it never orchestrated posts

In the statement, released this Thursday (4), Mynd8 says that it decided to go public because it has the “exact notion of how social networks can be used for good or bad”.

“We never orchestrate joint posts in any way or create political strategies for any ideological field other than the dissemination of advertising actions contracted by the companies we serve and activated by the people we manage,” said the company.

According to the agency, members of the company and their families are being threatened with death. “In these cases, our civil and criminal legal response will be firm and tireless, in all instances, always trusting in our country’s justice institutions”, says the note.