Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — who has been using both military powers and social media to oppress news protestors — has recently been opposed by a Brazilian court, and ordered to pay 20,000 reais (£2,500; $3,500) in damages to Journalist Patrícia Campos Mello. Bolsonaro accused Campos Mello of having sex with her news sources, which was seen as an attack on her honor.
This court decision shows some weaknesses in Bolosnaro’s power over the media. Critiques of the president and his tactics have been arrested in the past. He has, and still is using the national security law to his advantage. It states that the states it is a crime to harm the heads of the three branches of government or expose them to danger. Due to the wording, it can easily be manipulated to enforce the dictator-like behavior of stomping out opposing media. It is important to understand how the manipulation of media can influence the strength of the state and the accountability the head of state can face when challenging it.
A far-right president elected in 2018, Bolsonaro has been targeting opposing media as well as the rights of Sexual Minorites. The F&M Global Barometer of Gay Rights shows that between 2011 and 2018, the head of state of Brazil has been supportive of the legalization of homosexuality, which changed when Bolsonaro was elected. “In removing LGBT concerns from the responsibilities of the human rights ministry, Bolsonaro did not name any agency to consider such things. He has strongly criticized what he calls “gender-based ideology,” saying it is a threat to Brazil’s Christian values.” (Savarese 2019)
Bibliography
AP News Wire. 2021. “Brazil security law being turned on president's critics.” Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/brazil-security-law-being-turned-on-presidents-critics-jair-bolsonaro-protesters-brazil-sao-paulo-o-globo-b1819919.html.
BBC News. 2021. “Bolsonaro: Brazil's president ordered to pay damages to journalist.” BBC Latin America. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56554635.
F&M Global Barometer of Gay Rights. n.d. “F&M GBGR: Brazil.” F&M GBGR. https://www.fandmglobalbarometers.org/countries/brazil/.
Mendonca, Duarte, and Amy Woodyatt. 2021. “Bolsonaro ordered to pay 'moral damages' to journalist.” CNN Americas. https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/28/americas/bolsonaro-journalist-damages-intl/index.html.
Savarese, Mauricio. 2019. “Brazil’s Bolsonaro targets indigenous groups, LGBTQ rights on 1st day as president.” PBS News Hour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/brazils-bolsonaro-targets-indigenous-groups-lgbtq-rights-on-1st-day-as-president.
1 comment:
I think this begs the question: what is the role of media in a democracy? Clearly, Bolsonaro has treated news outlets and journalists poorly if not extremely disrespectfully, but as you mentioned, it has not gone unnoticed. I wonder if Brazil's press outlets will be able to serve the public in an honest way and serve the citizens. However, this president has no shame in discounting certain groups and I wonder if he is prone to censorship and manipulation of the press.
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