Roberto Peixoto, the mayor of Taubaté, São Paulo, blocked street sales of Bom Dia Taubaté on May 10. According to the paper, the audit comes after it published articles on a series of scandals and corruption allegations involving the mayor.
To justify the ban, the city government cited a 1991 law that bars street vending, O Vale explains. However, according to Bom Dia, the authorities have seemingly ignored other products being sold on the streets.
Peixoto is being investigated by federal prosecutors for corruption, including accusations of taking more than $3.1 million in bribes from a company that distributes school lunches in the city, O Globo adds.
According to Bom Dia, press groups like the National Newspaper Association (ANJ), the National Journalists’ Federation (FENAJ), and the São Paulo State Journalists’ Syndicate have denounced the ban as "censorship" of independent journalism.
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.
