Brazilian government attacking press freedoms in Brazil

“Over in China, you would vanish and your body would never be found.” While resembling a typical vitriolic social media attack on Brazilian journalists — which has become commonplace in recent years — the aforementioned threat was issued by none other than Frederick Wassef, the personal lawyer of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Sent via WhatsApp Messenger to UOL journalist Juliana Dal Piva, the intimidating remark came in response to Ms. Dal Piva’s recent investigative reports which reveal the president’s involvement in a salary-skimming scheme during his time as a congressman.

The threat is just the latest in a series of similar incidents stemming from the Brazilian government to intimidation of the press. Mr. Bolsonaro has consistently harassed reporters during his time in office, with the majority of his targets being women. In February 2020, he insinuated that one reporter gave sexual favors in exchange for damaging information against his government. Last month, he yelled at a woman journalist during a press conference, telling her to “shut up” and calling her and her colleagues “scoundrels.”

This trend of increasing hostility toward the Brazilian press has been...