(Belgian) The Meta company, parent company of Facebook and Instagram in particular, undertook on Monday to cancel the comments praising the assault carried out on Sunday against the Brazilian democratic institutions. “We consider this a violent event and will remove content that supports or praises this action,” a spokesman for the American technology company confirmed on Monday, in an interview with the German news agency dpa.
“We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to remove content that violates our policies,” he added. Brazil’s Supreme Court had previously ordered the removal of channels accused of organizing or supporting the riots. Judge Alexandre de Moraes thus requested the blocking of 17 accounts on the Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter platforms. However, some accounts were still active on Monday. According to the first elements of the investigation, social networks would have played an important role in organizing the attack. Supporters of deposed former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the parliament building, the Supreme Court and the Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia on Sunday. It took the police hours to regain control of the situation. Far-right President Bolsonaro was defeated in the second round of presidential elections by leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last October and left power in late 2022. Ahead of the elections, he had regularly questioned the electoral system , without however backing up his statements with evidence. After the ballot, he never explicitly acknowledged his defeat. His supporters have repeatedly blocked country roads, camped in front of the barracks and asked for military intervention in favor of the ousted former head of state. (Belgian)
