By Leonardo Desideri
One of the main elements to arm the population in the war against the censorship threats of Bill 2630/2020 – the Fake News Bill or Censorship Bill – is an online scoreboard that registers the voting intention of each parliamentarian.
Called “Placar do PL 2630” [Bill 2630 Scoreboard], the tool has served as an instrument of pressure on those parliamentarians “sitting on the fence”.
People against the bill have frequently shared the scoreboard to call the attention of their contacts about which parliamentarians have not yet made up their minds.
The site records the current position – or lack of position – of each of the 513 members in office.
As of 9 pm this Monday (8), there were 245 against PL 2.630, 218 in favor, and 50 members who have not decided.
The scoreboard manager is Freedom Bulletin, a news website about freedom of expression coordinated by former federal congressman Paulo Ganime and his wife, journalist Sara Ganime.
Ganime says they rely on several volunteers and do not use one method to find the parliamentarians’ positioning.
“We did it in a few ways: direct consultation, public positioning on social networks, and mobilization of the parliamentarians who talked to their colleagues and sent us their positioning,” he says.
For Ganime, there was a clear influence of the panel in the popular pressure that resulted in removing PL 2630 from the agenda last week.
Besides the scoreboard, there was also the position of each parliamentarian.
“This helped the population to identify which representative they should contact to talk to and try to change their vote,” he says.
The congress members have a profile on the site, where you can find their e-mail address, office phone number, and Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter addresses.
The user can filter between representatives who have expressed their vote for or against or have not yet opened their position.
Ganime says that “many” members of parliament were influenced by popular pressure.”
“The number of lawmakers in favor of the project fell between the moment the urgency request was approved, on April 25, and May 02, when the bill was put on the House agenda; the number of lawmakers against the project increased substantially.”
The impact of the PL 2630 Scoreboard is clear in the case of Congressman Luciano Alves (PSD-PR), who voted in favor of the urgency request without revealing his opinion on the matter and later caved in openly positioning himself against the project.
He received a flurry of comments after posting a photo of his meeting with Orlando Silva (PCdoB-SP), the project’s rapporteur, on his Instagram because he was still marked as neutral on the scoreboard.
“Where is your ‘no’ vote?” one user questioned.
In the next publication, Alves posted a video about the PL 2.630 with congressman Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), still without making clear his position, and received hundreds more comments, almost all pressing about the vote.
After the reaction on the networks, Alves is no longer marked as neutral on the Placar do PL 2630 and is now one of the representatives against the project.
Even after the removal from the agenda, Ganime highlights the need to maintain popular pressure and says that the Freedom Bulletin will continue to monitor the voting intentions of the parliamentarians.
“As long as our freedom and democracy are at risk with this bill, we will continue to monitor, publicize and mobilize.”
WHO ARE THE DEPUTIES WHO HAVE NOT YET POSITIONED THEMSELVES ON PL 2.630
Andreia Siqueira (MDB-PA)
Antônio Doido (MDB-PA)
Arnaldo Jardim (CIDADANIA-SP)
Arthur Lira (PP-AL)
Átila Lins (PSD-AM)
Átila Lira (PP-PI)
Baleia Rossi (MDB-SP)
Beto Pereira (PSDB-MS)
Carlos Henrique Gaguim (UNIÃO-TO)
Célio Studart (PSD-CE)
Celso Sabino (UNION-PA)
Cezinha de Madureira (PSD-SP)
Clodoaldo Magalhães (PV-PE)
Damião Feliciano (UNION-PB)
Daniel Barbosa (PP-AL)
David Soares (UNION-SP)
Domingos Neto (PSD-CE)
Euclydes Pettersen (REPUBLICANS-MG)
Fábio Macedo (PODE-MA)
Fernando Monteiro (PP-PE)
Flávia Morais (PDT-GO)
Gabriel Nunes (PSD-BA)
Helena Lima (MDB-RR)
Hercílio Coelho Diniz (MDB-MG)
João Carlos Bacelar (PL-BA)
João Leão (PP-BA)
João Maia (PL-RN)
Julio Cesar (PSD-PI)
Julio Lopes (PP-RJ)
Júnior Mano (PL-CE)
Luis Tibé (AVANTE-MG)
Marcelo Queiroz (PP-RJ)
Marcos Soares (UNIÃO-RJ)
Marcos Tavares (PDT-RJ)
Marreca Filho (PATRIOTA-MA)
Matheus Noronha (PL-CE)
Meire Serafim (UNION-AC)
Mersinho Lucena (PP-PB)
Murillo Gouvea (UNION-RJ)
Newton Cardoso Jr (MDB-MG)
Paulo Alexandre Barbosa (PSDB-SP)
Paulo Magalhães (PSD-BA)
Raimundo Costa (PODE-BA)
Renata Abreu (PODE-SP)
Ricardo Ayres (REPUBLICANS-TO)
Ricardo Maia (MDB-BA)
Simone Marquetto (MDB-SP)
Toninho Wandscheer (PP-PR)
Vinicius Gurgel (PL-AP)
Wellington Roberto (PL-PB)
*published and updated on May 08 at 9:15 pm, Brasília time.