Oversight Board Selects a Case Regarding a Video of Parts of a Brazilian General’s Speech and Caption that Call Election Results Into Question and Promote a Siege of Federal Institutions

UPDATED

MAY 3, 2023

Today, the Oversight Board selected a case appealed by a Facebook user regarding a video and caption that call into question the Brazilian election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and includes calls to “siege” Brazil’s congress as “the last alternative.” The video depicts a speech by a Brazilian general in which he calls for people to “hit the streets” and “go to the National Congress... [and the] Supreme Court” followed by images including a fire raging in the Three Powers Plaza in Brasília (home to Brazil’s presidential offices, Congress, and the Supreme Court) as well as an image with the words “we demand the source code,” referring to a slogan used by protestors to question the reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting machines.

Upon initial review, we found the content to be non-violating and it was left up. However, upon further review, we determined the post was left up in error as it did in fact violate our policy on Violence and Incitement considering Brazil had been designated a Temporary High-Risk Location as laid out in the Facebook Community Standards. We therefore removed the content.

We will implement the board’s decision once it has finished deliberating, and we will update this post accordingly. Please see the board’s website for the decision when they issue it.