MBL members face legal scrutiny over social media monetization strategy

Members of the Movimento Brasil Livre (MBL) and the Missão party, including presidential candidate Renan Santos and Federal Deputy Kim Kataguiri, are facing potential legal scrutiny from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) regarding their digital marketing strategies.

The group is promoting an online course called ‘Máquina de Cortes’ (Cuts Machine) through the Valete Plus platform. The training teaches supporters how to edit and distribute short-form videos on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to maximize views and subsequent monetization revenue. Kataguiri has explicitly framed the activity as a way for supporters to earn extra income while promoting the group's political ideas.

This strategy mirrors a model used by Pablo Marçal during the 2024 São Paulo mayoral campaign, which resulted in his declaration of ineligibility by the Regional Electoral Court for artificially inflating propaganda circulation. While the Missão model does not involve direct payments from candidates to creators, TSE Resolution No. 23,610/2019 prohibits any economic advantage or monetization as retribution for publishing electoral content, even when the funds originate from third-party platform programs.