The technical unit of Brazil's Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE, the Superior Electoral Court) delivered on Monday (12) the report its president, Kassio Nunes Marques, had requested on the "Exército do Lula" ("Lula's Army") channel, run on WhatsApp by federal deputy André Janones (Rede-MG). The finding does not back the request that got the channel taken down: within the period examined, the technicians found none of the posts that Flávio Bolsonaro's (PL) campaign disputes.
The document is signed by Frederico Alvim, who heads the Assessoria de Enfrentamento à Desinformação da Justiça Eleitoral (the electoral justice system's counter-disinformation unit).
What the report says — and what it does not reach
The analysis covered what the channel published between 2 and 11 October. In that window, the report says, there is no reproduction of the claims the rival campaign pointed to.
That window is the weak point of the check. The posts under challenge are from September, and the report itself notes that part of that month's original material was deleted from 7 October onwards. The review therefore never reached the content actually in dispute — which is why the unit does not state that disinformation occurred, nor that it did not.
What the report does assert is something else: it sees a risk of mass messaging in the closing stretch of the campaign, points to "coordinated action" in spreading the content, and describes the recurrent use of "polarising language" which, in the technicians' view, pushes debate towards confrontation rather than electoral competition.
Taken down and switched back on the same Sunday
On Sunday morning (11), Nunes Marques ordered Meta, which owns WhatsApp, to take the channel offline. It has 3.3 million followers. In the TSE president's view, the structure could widen the circulation of irregular content days before the runoff, set for 25 October.
Still on Sunday, Justice Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva — the case's rapporteur and corregedor-geral eleitoral (the electoral court's inspector general) — suspended the order in an injunction and cleared the channel until the full court rules on the merits. Cueva allowed posting to resume and new followers to join, but barred Janones from publishing or reproducing content the electoral courts have already found unlawful.
The inspector general noted that Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign had yet to complete the information he himself had demanded on Saturday (10) — a step still unfinished when the court's presidency ordered the channel down. The campaign appealed to the TSE presidency 41 minutes after Cueva's ruling.
What is at stake
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign accuses Janones of using the channel to spread false information, including supposed cuts to pensions and the removal of Nossa Senhora Aparecida's title as Brazil's patron saint. The action also asks that the deputy lose his seat.
A parallel case involving President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), his running mate Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) and Janones is under way as well; those named must file their defence within the deadline set by the court.
Cueva asked the full court to take up the case urgently. As of Monday night, no date had been set for that ruling.
With information from Agência Brasil, Poder360 and CNN Brasil.
