Paraíba Federal Justice convicts two for discrimination against Northeast Brazilians

The Federal Justice in Paraíba has sentenced two individuals to two years of imprisonment in an open regime for discriminating against people from the Northeast region of Brazil. The conviction stems from social media posts made in 2018 that associated the fear of losing social welfare programs with a perceived lack of willingness to seek employment.

The sentences were replaced by community service and a fine of R$ 2,000 for each defendant. The Federal Public Ministry prosecuted the case as discrimination based on national origin, a crime under Law No. 7,716/1989.

The presiding judge noted that the content specifically targeted impoverished residents of the Northeast, reproducing a prejudiced narrative that attributes poverty to a lack of individual effort while ignoring historical socio-economic inequalities. The court rejected the defendants' argument that they could not be guilty of discrimination because they are also from the Northeast, ruling that belonging to a group does not prevent an individual from reproducing prejudices against it.