When does the fight against fake news go too far?

Alexandre de Moraes was head of São Paulo state’s public security when, in 2016, he received a call from then Vice President Michel Temer, asking him to solve a problem: a hacker had stolen data from his wife Marcela Temer’s cell phone — including intimate photos.

Justice Moraes responded with both zeal and discretion. He found and ordered the arrest of the hacker, and no photos were leaked. That case proved decisive in Mr. Temer’s decision to name Justice Moraes his justice minister when he took over the presidency, and later to appoint him one of the 11 justices on the Supreme Court.

As a cabinet minister, Justice Moraes was criticized for his alleged authoritarian and all-powerful tendencies. Admittedly a conservative and defender of a tough-on-crime approach, he made decisions questioned by specialists — such as supporting a failed “war on drugs” (including personally cutting down marijuana plants in Paraguay) and leading the federal government’s questionable response to the 2017 penitentiary crisis that left more than 120 inmates dead.

But it was as a Supreme Court justice during the Jair Bolsonaro government (2019-2022) that Justice Moraes took on his most prominent role yet: that of the country’s biggest crusader against fake news, no matter the cost. 

The fight against fake news

Among other things, the judge launched — and still leads — an investigation into so-called “digital militias,” pro-Bolsonaro groups that spread false content on social networks to distort public opinion. That turned him into Mr. Bolsonaro’s nemesis and he drew fire from the former president on numerous occasions.

The inquiry overseen by Justice Moraes investigated Mr. Bolsonaro and his allies on suspicion of attacking Brazilian democracy. Justice Moraes ordered the arrest of Daniel Silveira and Roberto Jefferson, politicians close to Mr. Bolsonaro, for spreading fake news. As the far-right vowed to take to the streets with anti-democratic demands at Independence Day rallies in 2021, the judge issued orders to freeze bank accounts and arrest alleged ringleaders. 

Many of these decisions were made unilaterally, without review by Justice Moraes’s peers on the Supreme Court. 

As the 2022 elections approached, all eyes were on the judge...