"From north to south in Brazil, magistrates have interfered with press freedom and profited from it. I mapped a series of cases in which members of the judiciary followed Judge Lopes' example: displeased with what they read, they appealed to professional colleagues to silence journalists. In most situations, there are also demands for compensation reaching thousands of reais, extrapolating the amounts collected in similar lawsuits, but not targeting the media. With legal debts, financial survival - mainly of independent professionals or small news outlets - becomes difficult.
(...)
All the lawsuits have in common the use of Justice to censor, intimidate and economically damage journalists or news outlets. Given that these lawsuits are filed by magistrates and judged by fellow judges, corporatism exerts a strong influence on the decisions."
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