Brazil’s Fachin Moves to Close 7-Year Fake News Probe
JUSTICE · BRAZIL
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, elects its next president in a runoff on Sunday 25 October. Its Supreme Court has been in a free-speech dispute with Washington since 2025.
- —Why it matters The fake news inquiry, run since 2019 by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, is the court’s most disputed case. The US sanctioned Moraes from July to December 2025.
- —Why now On Thursday 8 October Justice Luiz Fux ordered full access to sealed Bolsonaro files within 48 hours, forcing the court’s president to respond.
- —What happened On Friday 9 October Chief Justice Edson Fachin said he will archive the inquiry for good after reviewing more than 100 linked procedures. He denied Fux immediate access.
- —What it means for you A closed inquiry removes one flashpoint in US–Brazil relations and could open seven years of sealed records to the public.
- —Still open Fachin set no deadline. Police and prosecutors still decide on individual cases, and orders issued before 9 September remain valid.
- —Prediction markets Polymarket gives about a 22% chance that Moraes leaves the Supreme Court before the end of 2026 (10 October, 2:25 p.m. ET).
Brazil’s Supreme Court president, Edson Fachin, said on Friday 9 October that he will permanently archive the fake news inquiry, the court’s longest-running and most disputed investigation. The case was opened in Brasília in 2019 and run for more than seven years by Justice Alexandre de Moraes. For US readers it matters because Washington sanctioned Moraes in 2025, citing limits on free expression, and the inquiry sits at the centre of that dispute.
Fachin set out his plan in an official reply to a fellow justice, Luiz Fux, who had demanded access to sealed files. He refused immediate access. He said the records would become public only once the inquiry is formally closed.
The move comes 16 days before Brazil’s presidential runoff, with the court under pressure from Congress, from conservative politicians and from abroad. It follows our earlier report, Fux Orders Own Access to Sealed Bolsonaro Probes.
What Fachin Told Fux
Fachin has led Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) since September 2025. He was appointed to the bench by former president Dilma Rousseff in 2015. On 9 September 2026 he took the inquiry away from Moraes and placed it under the court presidency.
Fux, a justice on the 11-member court, ordered on Thursday 8 October that his office receive full electronic access within 48 hours. His order, issued in a separate constitutional case, covered the fake news inquiry, the digital militias inquiry and two related petitions.
Fachin answered the next day. “Except for Inq 4.781, all the other procedures are public,” he wrote, according to the legal news site Migalhas. Inq 4.781 is the fake news inquiry. Fux can consult the other files now.
The presidency’s staff found more than 100 investigative procedures linked to the inquiry. Migalhas and CNN Brasil put the number at 104, while the state news agency Agência Brasil reported 108. Each file is being reviewed one by one.
Fachin said he intends to “promote the definitive archiving of the inquiry” once pending steps are complete. Some cases may first go to the Federal Police and then to the Prosecutor General’s Office, which decides whether to bring charges or close them.
He also drew a line under the past. “The change does not alter acts regularly carried out until 9 September, which remain valid,” he wrote, according to CNN Brasil. Criminal cases in which the court has already accepted charges are not affected.
Why Washington Has Watched This Case
The inquiry was opened in March 2019 by Dias Toffoli, then president of the court, without a request from prosecutors. Its stated purpose was to investigate attacks on justices and their families. Toffoli named Moraes to lead it.
Critics say that origin made the court victim, investigator and judge at once. Supporters say it protected the court during years of threats. Targets have included YouTuber Allan dos Santos, activist Sara Winter and the small left-wing Partido da Causa Operária, according to Estadão Conteúdo.
The US Treasury placed Moraes under Global Magnitsky sanctions on 30 July 2025, citing what it called arbitrary pretrial detentions and the suppression of freedom of expression. The Treasury’s sanctions office, OFAC, removed him from its list on 12 December 2025.
Critics also point to how far the inquiry kept widening. Estadão Conteúdo cites a recent search against blogger Luís Pablo Conceição Almeida, who had reported on a state court car used by Justice Flávio Dino. That case was sent on to Moraes because it was linked to the fake news inquiry.
The court has also faced threats against its members, as we reported in Brazil Supreme Court Justice Exposes Death Threats.
What It Means for You
For investors, closing the inquiry removes one source of friction between Brasília and Washington ahead of the runoff. It does not settle the wider fight over the court’s powers, which remains a live campaign issue.
For anyone who follows Brazilian politics from abroad, the main change is transparency. Fachin has promised “broad publicity” for the records once the case is archived. That could show for the first time how the inquiry was run.
For travellers and residents, nothing changes in daily life. The inquiry targeted online speech and attacks on justices, not ordinary visitors.
What Is Not Known
Fachin set no date for the archiving. It is not known how many of the 100-plus procedures will go to police or prosecutors first, or how long that will take.
It is not clear whether Fux will challenge the refusal before the full court. Moraes has not publicly responded to the plan, and Washington has made no statement on it.
It is also unknown what the records will show once unsealed, and whether any of the open cases will lead to charges.
What Prediction Markets Say
On Polymarket, bets that Alexandre de Moraes will cease to be a Supreme Court justice at any point before 31 December 2026 traded at about 22% on Saturday afternoon (10 October, 2:25 p.m. ET). The contract has drawn about US$146,000 in total volume.
The price rose about four and a half percentage points over the past week. These are real-money bets, not polls, and they do not measure the chance of the inquiry closing.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Brazil’s fake news inquiry?
It is Supreme Court investigation Inq 4.781, opened in March 2019 to look into attacks and threats against justices and their families. Justice Alexandre de Moraes led it until 9 September 2026.
Why is Fachin closing it now?
Fachin took over the case in September and says he will archive it once more than 100 linked procedures have been reviewed. He gave the plan in a reply to Justice Luiz Fux on 9 October.
Does closing the inquiry cancel earlier decisions?
No. Fachin wrote that acts carried out until 9 September remain valid, and criminal cases in which charges were already accepted continue.
Sources: Migalhas, 9 October 2026; Agência Brasil, 9 October 2026; CNN Brasil, 10 October 2026; Jovem Pan / Estadão Conteúdo, 9 October 2026; US Treasury, 30 July 2025; OFAC, 12 December 2025.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief