Far-left party included in Supreme Court fake news probe

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes included the far-left Workers’ Cause Party (PCO) in the so-called “fake news” inquiry, which targets illegal underground misinformation rings linked to President Jair Bolsonaro and his inner circle.

Justice Moraes ordered the PCO’s social media accounts to be suspended and chairman Rui Costa Pimenta to be subpoenaed within five days. On social media, the party replied by asking for the shutdown of the country’s top court. PCO representatives had called Justice Moraes a “skinhead in a robe” and accused him of “staging a new coup against the elections.” 

“Effectively, we see strong indications that the PCO has repeatedly and improperly used its publicly-funded structure to enable and promote the spread of criminal statements,” the justice wrote in his ruling. The case is sealed, but The Brazilian Report had access to the decision. 

The far-left party joins far-right President Bolsonaro in calling into question the security of Brazil’s voting system — although not a single credible fraud allegation has been raised in nearly 30 years of its usage in Brazil.

• #fakeNews
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