'Persecution': Brazil President slams Facebook for suspending supporters' accounts

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on July 9 criticised the social media giant Facebook for suspending the accounts of his employees and supporters. While addressing his weekly live broadcast, the Brazilian President called Facebook’s action unwarranted ‘persecution’ and noted that accounts of his leftist opponents were not suspended. He also added that no hate postings were to be found on his accounts. 

Facebook on Wednesday had suspended dozens of accounts linked to the supporters of Bolsonaro as part of an investigation into the spread of false news online. The Brazilian courts have been investigating the spread of false news in connection with Bolsonaro, hence, the social media platform deleted 73 Facebook and Instagram accounts, 14 pages and one group. Nathaniel Gleicher, the company's head of cybersecurity policy, reportedly said that the accounts were removed for using fake personas and other types of ‘coordinated inauthentic behaviour’ which violated the company’s rules. 

While there is no evidence that the politicians themselves had operated the accounts, Bolsonaro said that ‘what is happening is regrettable’ and a ‘risk to freedom of the press’. 

READ: Facebook Removes False Accounts Linked To Brazil's Bolsonaro

‘Fake news attack’

According to an international media outlet, Facebook said that the suspended accounts were linked to the social Liberal party, which Bolsonaro left last year after winning the 2018 presidential elections. The social media giant added that the accounts were also linked to the employees of the president, two other lawmakers and two of his sons, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro. 

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Gleicher in a statement had said that the suspended accounts consisted several clusters of connected activity that relied on a combination of duplicate and fake accounts, some of which had been detected and disabled by the automated system. The Facebook executive reportedly added that the accounts were being used to "evade enforcement, create fictitious personas posing as reporters, post content, and manage pages masquerading as news outlets”. 

The recent accusations by Facebook have led to a congressional inquiry and a Supreme Court investigation into ‘fake news attacks’ on the country’s judiciary. Back in May, the accusations had also led to police raids on the homes and offices of Bolsonaro allies. Moreover, the allegations also add to the increasing political crisis in Brazil, where the President’s sons and supporters have been accused of running a coordinated online campaign to smear Bolsonaro’s opponents. 

(With AP inputs) 

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