Pull up a chair, because this one sounds like a streaming series. The president of the TSE, Brazil's Superior Electoral Court, Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, has given Instagram 24 hours to take down a video that links Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, a presidential candidate for the PL party, to the Banco Master scandal. The order, disclosed on Tuesday (September 22), answers a complaint filed by Bolsonaro's own party against the account @lulapelaverdade, according to Folha de S.Paulo and CNN Brasil.
There is even a movie at the center of the plot. The video tied investments by Rioprevidência, the pension fund of Rio de Janeiro state, to the sponsorship of Dark Horse, a biopic about Jair Bolsonaro, the former president convicted and jailed over an attempted coup. The post also accused Flávio and his brother, former congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, of involvement in an alleged money laundering scheme.
Nunes Marques wrote that linking a candidate's name to people under investigation or to criminal facts, without concrete proof, can "harm his honor and image before the electorate". In the ruling, he said freedom of expression is not absolute and that spreading a knowingly false claim that imputes a crime goes beyond legitimate political criticism.
The injunction goes further than a delete button. The justice banned republication of the content, including edited versions made to dodge the platforms' detection systems, and set a fine for noncompliance. According to CNN Brasil, Instagram must also hand over, within the same deadline, registration data and access logs identifying whoever runs the account. The measure is provisional: the TSE's full bench will review it, and those responsible will be called to present a defense.
Flávio denies any wrongdoing. "There is nothing wrong with Bolsonaro's film. It was all smooth, private investment in a private film," he said during a livestream this month, according to Folha. The backstory is long: in May, the news site The Intercept Brasil reported that the senator had asked Daniel Vorcaro, the former banker who owns Master, for money to finance the film; in September, Flávio became a formal suspect in the inquiry investigating the production.
Where to watch the next episodes: TSE plenary sessions in Brasília stream live on the court's official YouTube channel and on TV Justiça, the judiciary's channel. And the clock is ticking, with the first round of Brazil's presidential election coming in October.