Mato Grosso electoral court upholds posts, fines candidates and presses journalist over pre‑campaign content
The Mato Grosso Regional Electoral Court (TRE‑MT) suspended an earlier order that had required the removal of social‑media posts by pre‑candidates Mauro Mendes and Otaviano Pivetta, ruling that the content did not constitute prohibited early election propaganda.
In a separate decision, a judge ordered Pivetta to delete two videos that were deemed to contain elements of pre‑campaign propaganda, imposing a daily fine for non‑compliance.
The court also fined Senator Wellington Fagundes for an explicit request for votes in an Instagram video, applying a penalty of R$ 8,000 after finding that the phrase “vote in Wellington Fagundes” violated electoral rules.
The Electoral Public Ministry (MPE) filed a request to convict journalist Antero Paes de Barros for continuing to publish material that it said exceeded the limits of political criticism of candidate Mauro Mendes, arguing that the posts constituted unlawful attacks rather than protected speech.