In the final stretch of the Brazilian electoral campaign, audios and information began to circulate on social networks denouncing that Lula da Silva had suggested assassinating the former Minister of Finance, Antonio Palocci, who denounced the alleged irregularities committed by the Workers’ Party candidate. . in the framework of Operation Lava Jato.

In the false audio broadcast by Eduardo Bolsonaro and by accounts that support him, according to Globo, a voice that seemed to be that of Lula da Silva was heard saying that “no one had the competence and the courage to finish off this guy. [Palocci]”. Several users on social networks write that the “press” and fact checkers “They are studying how to deny the audio of Lula ordering the end” of the former Minister of Finance.

Now, Minister Paulo de Tarso Sanseverino, belonging to the Superior Electoral Court, ruled, in a decision published this Monday, that this audio was false and forced Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Kwai and Gettr to delete all the publications that they will mention If they were not deleted, the social networks would have to pay a fine of 10,000 reais (about 1,890 euros) per day.

The minister maintains that the posts on social networks about the audio transmit “misinformation about falsely attributed speech” to Lula da Silva. Other specialized agencies fact checks concluded that the voice was not that of the PT candidate. To Globo, the Lula da Silva Institute also confirmed that he had not been the candidate to pronounce those words.

“Posts containing false information are being published on the critical period of the electoral processin profiles with a high number of followers and generating a high number of views, which, in theory, makes it possible to have negative repercussions that are difficult to repair on the image of the candidate”, also pointed out Paulo de Tarso Sanseverino.

Lula da Silva’s defense lawyers, who filed a complaint with the Superior Electoral Court, said that “it is not conceivable” that “a serious violation of the fairness of the electoral process” could be authorized from the disclosure of “false content” , since the “The audio was never recorded and shared by the presidential candidate.

conclusion

It is not true that Lula da Silva recorded an audio stating that he wanted to assassinate the former Minister of Finance, Antonio Palocci. The Superior Electoral Court indicated that its disclosure occurs in a “critical period of the electoral process” and that it allowed a wave of “negative repercussions” to the image of the candidate.

According to the Observer classification, this content is:

In the Facebook classification system this content is:

FAKE: The main content claims are factually inaccurate. This option typically matches “false” or “mostly false” ratings on fact-checking websites.

NOTE: This content was curated by The Observer as part of a fact-checking partnership with Facebook.