A atuação do Tribunal Superior Eleitoral no combate às fake news no processo eleitoral de 2022

Abstract

In Brazil, starting with the 2018 general elections, there was an exponential increase in the amount of fake news. Given the importance of periodic electoral elections in the country, rapid and effective action by the Judiciary is essential to guarantee equality and due process in the electoral sphere. In this sense, this article aims to discuss the role of the Superior Electoral Court in combating fake news in the 2022 electoral process. To this end, bibliographical research was carried out, with a descriptive objective and a qualitative approach, using the hermeneutic-systematic method . Initially, general aspects of fake news are briefly discussed, emphasizing the electoral context. Next, the limits of the principle of freedom of expression, often used with the intention of justifying the propagation of fake news, are discussed in this area. Finally, the performance of the Superior Electoral Court in the face of the spread of political disinformation is described, in the context of the 2022 electoral election. It was found that the aforementioned Court started to adopt a more combative stance in relation to fake news, unlike the stance maintained in the 2018 electoral election, through planned, strategic, continued actions that involved other institutions and society. The new stance strongly highlighted the debate, in the electoral context, about the limits of freedom of expression, which cannot harm the due electoral process.