Turnaround in the Virtual Plenary
The Superior Electoral Court ruled unanimously to release the post by comedian Antonio Tabet that ironizes a supposed campaign against Our Lady Aparecida. The release came after Minister André Mendonça reconsidered his initial position in Wednesday's session (30).
The Content in Question
Tabet posted, without directly naming Flávio Bolsonaro, that “the militia family hates black women so much that it decided to attack Our Lady Aparecida”. The phrase was interpreted as a generic criticism and not as a factual claim that the candidate had taken any concrete measure.
Change of Understanding
Initially, Mendonça had voted to keep the post removed, on the grounds that it was based on false information. After reassessing, the minister concluded that the publication does not attribute specific acts against the title or image of the patron saint to the senator and, therefore, should not be removed.
All seven TSE ministers followed the new position.
Limits of the Decision
The court maintained the removal of other posts that verifiably claimed Flávio Bolsonaro had proposed or articulated the withdrawal of the title of patron saint of Brazil. Criticisms, opinions and projections about possible future initiatives, however, remained outside the scope of the measure.
Context of the Judgment
The case is part of actions filed by Mendonça to combat electoral disinformation related to the Catholic faith. The president of the TSE, Kassio Nunes Marques, and the other ministers stressed that protection against fake news cannot restrict freedom of expression when there is no objective assertion of untrue facts.