Electoral Court Orders Instagram to Remove Video Linking Flávio Bolsonaro to Banco Master Case

Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, president of Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE), ordered Instagram to remove within 24 hours a video linking Senator and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) to an alleged money-laundering scheme tied to Banco Master. The injunction responds to a request from the PL party’s national committee against the account @lulapelaverdade.

What the video claimed

According to the PL, the post linked investments by Rioprevidência — Rio de Janeiro state’s public pension fund — in Banco Master to the financing of “Dark Horse,” a biopic about former President Jair Bolsonaro, and alleged that Flávio and his brother, former congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, were involved in money laundering.

The party described the content as early negative campaign propaganda based on disinformation, arguing that the Federal Police’s Operation Compliance Zero — which is investigating Rioprevidência’s investments in Banco Master — targets former Rio governor Cláudio Castro, and does not name Flávio as a defendant, formally accused, or under investigation.

The ruling’s reasoning

In granting the request, Nunes Marques stated that freedom of expression is not absolute and that linking a presidential candidate to criminal conduct without concrete evidence can damage their honor and public image. The order also covers reposts by other accounts, including altered versions meant to evade detection, and sets a fine for noncompliance. The injunction must still be confirmed by the full TSE bench.

A separate contract tied to Nunes Marques

The ruling comes amid another development in the Banco Master case: a document obtained by the Federal Police points to a R$ 427 million (roughly $80 million) contract between Banco Master and a law firm connected to Supreme Court Justice Nunes Marques, run by appellate judge Newton Ramos and attorney Camilla Ramos. Asked about the contract at a campaign rally in Natal, Flávio Bolsonaro said he didn’t have enough information to comment on the matter.

Amid the new revelations, Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaign has scaled back references to the Master case in free campaign airtime ahead of the first-round vote, while relying on social media as its main channel for rapid responses to the topic.