Twitter and Instagram accounts of Brazil’s most elected federal deputy suspended by court order (Update 1)

Popular Bolsonarist federal parliamentarian Nikolas Ferreira (PL, right) from Minas Gerais state was suspended from his Twitter account by court order on Friday (Nov. 4).

The message “account maintained” appears on  Ferreira’s Twitter site.

On Instagram, he shared on the same day a text about the suspension due to a court order related to an ongoing case before the Superior Electoral Court TSE.

Nikolas, 26, was the most-voted federal deputy in Brazil in this election, with about 1.5 million votes.

The congressman shared a backup account on Instagram and said, “it’s unbelievable what’s happening.”

He recorded a video saying he was blocked from asking questions.

Then on Saturday morning (Nov. 5), his Instagram account was also suspended.

“I was removed from my social networks because I asked the TSE to analyze election complaints. I did not agree at any point, but only asked to look into the matter,” Nikolas said on his Telegram channel.

The decisions to suspend accounts are confidential.

The post was published alongside a photo showing Nikolas with black tape in his mouth to protest election justice censorship. “Share this information with this photo. The truth will prevail,” he said.

On Friday, the congressman-elect published a live broadcast by Argentine political consultant Fernando Cerimedo, who is responsible for the news portal La Derecha Diario.

In it, the journalist claims that versions before the 2020 model of the electronic ballot box would not be verifiable and would have counted fewer votes for President Jair Bolsonaro (PL, right) in the second round.

Cerimedo’s report was also mentioned by Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL) on Twitter.

Photos on social media show a close relationship between the president’s youngest son and the Argentine adviser.

In a video posted on YouTube early Saturday afternoon (Nov. 5), Nikolas denied spreading disinformation on the networks. He said he had only demanded answers from the electoral authority to the questions raised by Cerimedo.

“Imagine picking up your cell phone and saying, ‘Police, I see something strange in my street; I don’t know what it is, can you come here and find out?’ and the police say, ‘I’m going to arrest you.’ See how crazy this is,” he criticized.

In May, the Evaluation Commission of the TPS (Test of Public Security) published a report proving the security and integrity of the electronic ballot boxes.

The armed forces and three other control bodies signed off on the vote counting systems as ‘in order’ last Sunday (Oct. 30).

The document proves that no vote was calculated on the device before voting began.