Justice Flávio Dino of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Sunday (27) overturned a ruling by André Mendonça, a justice of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), that had ordered the removal of a social media post by comedian Antônio Tabet about Nossa Senhora Aparecida, the dark-skinned Virgin Mary venerated as Brazil's patron saint. Dino also ordered digital platforms to restore posts taken down on the same grounds. The decision answered an appeal Tabet himself filed with the STF.
Tabet posted the text on Thursday (24), as false claims spread that the campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), a presidential candidate and son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, was plotting to strip the saint of her patronage title. "A família miliciana odeia tanto mulher preta, que resolveu atacar Nossa Senhora Aparecida" ("the militia family hates Black women so much that it decided to attack Our Lady of Aparecida"), he wrote. The text did not name the candidate. Flávio went to the TSE and won an injunction ordering the post's removal, banning similar content and setting a R$ 30,000 fine per violation. Mendonça called the contents "notoriously untrue" and extended the order to the platforms, according to news site Jovem Pan.
What the ruling says
In Dino's words, posts like Tabet's lack the "degree of certainty of illicitness" needed to justify "very harsh consequences against freedom of expression and, ultimately, against religious freedom itself". Taking the content down, he wrote, would require presuming that the phrase "família miliciana" (militia family) refers to one specific presidential candidate. Tabet had told the STF the order amounted to prior censorship.
Dino also noted that the feast of Our Lady of Aparecida, a national holiday on October 12, is approaching, which makes the removal orders "even more incompatible" with the free exercise of that faith. He recalled that Flávio Bolsonaro had even asked for the arrest of a presidential palace staffer for reposting content about the saint, as reported by newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.
"It is legally admissible for a candidate or his followers to oppose certain religious convictions, since there can be no imposition in this area. However, such a candidate or his supporters cannot prevent their positions from being reported and freely debated," Dino wrote.
"The faithful of Nossa Senhora Aparecida would, in practice, be afraid or prevented from speaking out," he added. The case is one more front in the judicial battle between the campaigns of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Flávio Bolsonaro in the week before the first round of the election.
What comes next
Dino issued the ruling in a complaint in which he had already struck down, in June, an order by the electoral court of Paraná state that banned posts about the ineligibility of Deltan Dallagnol. The justice ordered the TSE and the platforms to be notified so that the removed content is restored. He wrote that any abuses remain subject to judicial measures, provided due process is respected, and that there are not enough elements, without a deeper review of the case, to conclude that Tabet's post was unlawful.