Brazil's TSE President to Oversee Probe into Alleged Anti-Bolsonaro Social Media Campaign

Justice Kássio Nunes Marques, President of Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE), will serve as the rapporteur for a case investigating an alleged scheme of social media profiles financed to attack Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. The Liberal Party (PL) filed the complaint, seeking an inquiry into these profiles, reportedly operating on Meta platforms. Rogério Marinho, campaign coordinator for Flávio Bolsonaro, and Maria Cláudia Bucchianeri, the party's legal coordinator, met with Justice Nunes Marques and subsequently addressed journalists. The investigation is currently under judicial seal. Even without being randomly assigned, Justice Nunes Marques would have handled the case due to the judicial recess, during which the presiding judge addresses urgent matters. According to Flávio Bolsonaro's pre-campaign team, over 20,000 profiles were identified as part of an amplified attack network targeting him. Bucchianeri explained that the scheme was discovered accidentally while monitoring paid advertisements on Meta, noting the unusual activity of small, recently created profiles making significant ad purchases. The alleged attacks also target governors Tarcísio de Freitas of São Paulo and Jorginho Mello of Santa Catarina, with Marinho stating that some of the over 20,000 identified profiles may have been created and funded from outside Brazil. The complaint requests an investigation, the removal of the profiles, and the lifting of their privacy to reveal those responsible. The TSE prohibits the promotion of attack content against candidates, even before the official campaign period begins. Marinho indicated that Justice Nunes Marques pledged to make a swift decision, emphasizing the need for judicial agility given the rapid disappearance of such profiles. The President of the TSE will determine which authority, such as the Federal Police or the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, will lead the investigation.