The first use of the Orwellian governmental structure in Brazil; National Attorney's for the Defense of Democracy begins its activities by punishing journalists

By @tupireport

National Attorney of the Union for the Defense of Democracy (PNDD) requests retraction and payment of compensation for collective moral damages.

The Attorney General's Office (AGU), through the National Attorney's Office of the Union for the Defense of Democracy (PNDD), filed this Monday (26/06) a public civil action against presenter Tiago Pavinatto. During a comment on a nationwide television program (Jovem Pan News) – later reproduced on two of his social networks – Pavinatto associated the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, with organized crime, drug trafficking and an alleged coup d’état, after visit to Complexo da Maré, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), on March 13 of this year.

The role of the Public Prosecutor's Office is aimed at combating misinformation and the attempt to distort and delegitimize the attributions of a body of the Executive Power of the Union. Considering that this is flagrantly false news, the presenter's conduct conforms to the hypothesis foreseen among the powers of the PNDD, as established in Normative Ordinance PGU/AGU No. 16, of May 4, 2023.

In the initial petition, the PNDD clarifies that, unlike what was fraudulently disseminated by the journalist, Minister Flávio Dino's trip to the Rio de Janeiro community was due to an invitation from the NGO Redes da Maré, in order for him to participate in the launch of the 7th edition of the newsletter “Right to Public Security in Maré”. The AGU points out that the event highlights the institutional character of the visit, whose purpose was to reaffirm the State's willingness to be present in that location, despite the difficulties that may exist in the fight against organized crime.

According to the Attorney General's Office, the "fraudulent and pernicious news published by the defendant undeniably greatly frustrates the purpose of the institutional action of the Minister of Justice and Public Security, inciting panic, distrust, and causing revolt in an absolutely unfounded way in the population", highlights the PNDD, in excerpt from the beginning. “Now, the news propagated simulates the alleged factual truth that the Minister of Justice and Public Security, precisely the figure in charge of administering policies to combat organized crime, is allied with the practice of very serious crimes, including a coup d’état, in to the detriment of the safety and interest of the population”, they adds.

The PNDD also emphasizes that freedom of expression cannot serve as a safeguard against the malicious practice of acts that affect other fundamental rights, such as the right to communication and reliable information. “It is necessary to materialize the necessary relationship between the exercise of freedom of expression and the responsibility that may arise from it. The impossibility of prior censorship is not questioned, but the possibility of 'a posteriori' civil liability is guaranteed”, emphasizes another part of the action.

In addition, the PNDD points out that the destructive potential of the conduct now being fought is even greater due to the fact that the reporter is a professional who enjoys the typical credibility of someone who exercises journalistic activity, with the aggravating factor that the disinformation was conveyed in a public concession of broadcasting and on social networks that, together, reach almost 900 thousand people.

damage repair

At the end of the action, the PNDD requests, outright, that the journalist's publications be immediately excluded from their social networks, and that the professional refrain from reiterating the disinformation in question, under penalty of a fine, given that the maintenance of the post gives rise to the possibility of disseminating manifestly untrue content, with the potential to generate years in the image of the Executive Power of the Union.

The Public Prosecutor's Office also requests that the social networks on which the content was published be notified, so that they can inform whether the journalist has made any kind of profit from the posts. If so, it requests that the amounts be refunded, bearing in mind that receiving income from a video propagating fraudulent news constitutes illicit enrichment, under the terms of art. 884 of the Civil Code. Finally, the PNDD requires the payment of compensation for collective moral damages, in the amount of BRL 300,000, in addition to condemning the defendant to the production and dissemination of a video on his social networks, portraying the knowingly false statements related to the minister's institutional visit Flávio Dino to Complexo da Maré.

However, the general association base for the journalist's statements is extensive and goes back to several government structures to characterize an association with organized crime.