TSE orders the removal of posts that falsely associate Lula with a satanic ritual in Paulista

The measure partially responds to a request from the Brasil Pronto Pra Mais coalition. Among the targets of the representation are Paulo Bilynskyj, Marcos Antonio Pereira Gomes, known as Zé Trovão, Fernando Emílio dos Santos Machado and Dárcio Bracarense Filgueiras, in addition to those responsible for other profiles on social networks.

As g1 showed, the images used in the video were recorded during the 4th March for Exu, held on Avenida Paulista on August 16, 2026. In the decision, the minister stated that the religious demonstration has no link with Lula's electoral campaign and cited checks by Agência Lupa that corroborate the decontextualization of the material.

"The montage, therefore, is not limited to the expression of critical opinion or the interpretation of a public demonstration. It attributes to the candidate participation in an event that he did not attend, through an undue association between a celebration of religion of African origin and an alleged satanic ritual", wrote Estela Aranha.

The minister considered that the publications present “manifestly untrue and out of context” content, with the potential to mislead voters and compromise the regularity of the electoral debate. She justified the urgency of the withdrawal due to the proximity of the second round and the risk of expanding misinformation through new sharing.

The removal order covers seven posts: five on Instagram, one on Facebook and one on Threads. Those responsible are also prohibited from republishing or broadcasting the same video or substantially identical materials. The Meta must take measures regarding identical or equivalent reproductions and inform the TSE of the measures taken.

The company will also have to preserve access records for the accounts responsible for the publications, in addition to data and metadata related to disclosure, shares and engagement metrics since October 12th. The eventual provision of this information will be analyzed later.

A video is circulating on social media that supposedly shows a "Satan invocation ritual" carried out during the demonstration in favor of President Lula (PT), candidate for re-election, which took place this Sunday (11) on Avenida Paulista. The content is false.

Published on X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and TikTok on Sunday, the material displays a text box superimposed on the images that says: "Lula's campaign becomes an invocation ritual".

The video shows a man appearing on top of an electric trio and wearing a black cape printed with the word "Exu". He sings to a crowd, and people on the ground sing: "Hey, Satan, Satan, where are you?"

Although the images are real — and not produced by artificial intelligence (AI), for example — the video was not recorded during his pro-Lula act. The recording took place two months ago, during the 4th March to Exu, held in the same location.