Pablo Marçal faces charges of abuse of economic power and misuse of social media
Judge Antonio Maria Patiño Zorz, from TRE (Regional Electoral Court) of São Paulo, temporarily suspended this Saturday (Aug 24, 2024) the social media profiles of Pablo Marcalbusinessman and mayoral candidate for the PRTB (Brazilian Labor Renewal Party). The decision also affects the candidate’s activities on the Discord platform.
Marçal is the candidate in the São Paulo race who has grown the most in voting intentions in opinion polls in the last two weeks. He is already technically tied with Ricardo Nunes (MDB) and with Guilherme Boulos (PSOL). Social media has been Marçal’s main tool to support his campaign. If he is banned from the digital environment, he will have difficulty getting his messages across to voters.
The PRTB candidate is being investigated on suspicion of abuse of economic power and improper use of the media. The investigation began after the PSB of São Paulo filed a lawsuit on Thursday (22 August) in the city’s 1st Electoral Zone.
The candidate is accused of creating a strategy to spread content on social media and services streamingwith electoral objectives. According to the accusation, he allegedly used an app to encourage users to post content that, if viewed well, would be paid for. This tactic allegedly resulted in more than 2 billion views on TikTok and a significant increase in followers on Instagram, involving more than 5,000 people.
The origin of the financial resources used to pay participants in this strategy is questioned, as it may represent a type of electoral financing prohibited by law.
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