Maria do Carmo legal action threatens journalistic source secrecy

A legal action initiated by candidate Maria do Carmo (PL) has sparked concerns regarding the protection of journalistic source secrecy in Brazil. The dispute arose following news reports about Rodrigo Soares, an individual arrested in a drug trafficking operation who had presented himself on social media as a campaign coordinator for the candidate.

The Electoral Public Prosecutor's Office (MPE) has requested that news portals, including Redação Amazônia, provide information to identify the origin of the reports. The MPE argued that because the content appeared to stem from press release texts, “source secrecy does not apply.” The prosecutor requested metadata, timestamps, and original files to identify the sender and recipients of the information.

In response, the Amazonas Union of Professional Journalists (Sinjor-AM) and the National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj) issued a joint statement condemning the attempt to violate source secrecy. They noted that the Civil Police of Amazonas had already reported finding campaign materials belonging to Maria do Carmo at the location where the accused was arrested.