Again, the TSE ordered Flávio to delete posts linking Lula to criminal gangs

Reporting justice André Mendonça was joined by six justices, including Dias Toffoli and the court's president, Nunes Marques^[1]. In June, Mendonça had denied removal; at the hearing, he revised his vote^[2]. Flávio had 24 hours to delete the posts, subject to a daily fine, and may not repost the material or similar content^[1].

One video combined a Jornal Nacional segment about military police officers killed in Operação Contenção with a statement by Lula about drug users and dealers, ending with Flávio: “criminals will no longer have a place here in Brazil”^[2].

Another, made with AI, showed Lula wearing a shirt saying “Trump, leave our criminals alone”. Mendonça called it satirical criticism^[2]; that one was removed for failing to disclose its use of AI, breaching the “duty of transparency”^[1].

The ruling does not prohibit criticism of public security policy or the government's actions^[4]. This is a case of early negative electoral advertising, not a criminal prosecution. What the court blocked was linking a prospective candidate to a gang “without a minimal factual basis”, which, in the reporting justice's view, “may constitute serious decontextualization”^[1]. The news reports do not include a response from Flávio.

The association is not new. In October 2022, Flávio spread the claim that “CPX” on Lula's cap was a gang acronym, and his and Carla Zambelli's posts totalled 345 thousand likes on Instagram^[5]. That time, the press checked: CNN Brasil, with Comprova, showed that CPX means “complexo” (complex) and has no connection to a gang^[6].

In 2026, up to October 10, we found no fact-check of Flávio's gang-related posts by Lupa, Aos Fatos, Comprova, g1's Fato ou Fake, Folha or O Globo. The coverage we read recorded the rulings, and the lack of a factual basis appears only in the court's words^[1][2]. A repeated lie spreads faster than its correction, and fighting it should be the work of the whole press, not only the electoral courts.