The campaign of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has asked Brazil's Superior Electoral Court, the TSE, to suspend "TV Celular", a video platform run by his rival Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) in the presidential race. The coalition argues that the platform does not identify its content as campaign material, as electoral law requires.
According to the campaign, TV Celular streams live programming around the clock with politicians and Bolsonaro supporters. Videos can be downloaded and shared on social media, which the coalition describes as a "campaign propaganda library" with no identification of who made it. A survey by Lula's coalition found that only 15 of 883 items on the platform identify the candidate, his running mate and the party.
"The voter has no immediate element that allows him to identify that he is looking at electoral propaganda for a specific candidate and party," the filing submitted to the TSE reads. Lula's lawyers argue the page risks appearing to be a platform of spontaneous support when the material is in fact produced by the rival campaign. Court rules require campaign ads of any kind to name the party, and for presidential tickets the running mate's name must appear at no less than 30% of the size of the candidate's own name.
According to G1, the platform is registered to F.A.R.O Propaganda e Publicidade, an advertising firm. Official TSE data show the company received R$ 13.1 million from Bolsonaro's campaign, its largest expense so far.
Angelo Ferraro, the legal coordinator of Lula's campaign, said he does not question the rival's right to publish videos.
"The point is that electoral propaganda needs to be identified as electoral propaganda. When material is made to be downloaded and replicated by third parties, that transparency becomes even more important, so that voters know who produced the content and who is behind it," Ferraro said.
What the campaign is asking
The coalition wants TV Celular suspended until its content complies with the rules. If the court refuses, it asks that video downloads be blocked until the archive is regularized, plus a fine. The TSE has not ruled on the request yet. It arrives in the final stretch of the campaign, on the same day Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro held simultaneous rallies in the state of Santa Catarina, according to G1.