In another case of court-ordered censorship in Brazil, journalist Esmael Morais’ blog was taken down at the request of the governor of Paraná state, Beto Richa, Folha de São Paulo reports. The politician’s suit against the blog began during the 2010 electoral campaign season, when Morais posted a video comparing Richa to Adolf Hitler.
Initially, the journalist was ordered to take down the offending posts, however the blog has been replaced by a message detailing the nature of the court order.
“It was not only I, who said there was misappropriation of funds to buy politicians. The charges even appeared on Fantástico and took down high-ranking City Hall officials,” said Esmael, quoted by Wiki Brasil. “I consulted the experts: one can only take a blog offline if the content is published anonymously. Nonetheless, I was censored,” he said.
A series of court cases against Brazilian media outlets, has led press freedom groups to speak out against persistent “judicial censorship.” For more examples of censorship during Brazil’s 2010 electoral campaign, see this Knight Center map on the topic.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
