Brazil Supreme Court Justice Voids a Colleague’s Election Post Ban
BRAZIL · ELECTION 2026 · COURTS
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil, Latin America’s largest democracy, elects a president on 4 October. Polls show President Lula narrowly ahead in the first round of senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president’s eldest son.
- —The background Three of the 11 Supreme Court justices also sit on the seven-member electoral court, which polices campaigns. Justices often rule alone, and such rulings take effect at once.
- —Why now A false claim that Flávio Bolsonaro wanted to strip Our Lady of Aparecida of her title as Brazil’s patron saint went viral on 24 September. The next day, electoral-court vice-president André Mendonça ordered posts removed.
- —What happened On Sunday 27 September, Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino voided Mendonça’s order against comedian Antonio Tabet. He told platforms to restore Tabet’s post and others removed on the same grounds.
- —Who is who Flávio Bolsonaro brought the original case; Tabet brought the challenge. Mendonça was appointed by Jair Bolsonaro, Dino by Lula, whom he served as justice minister.
- —What it means for you Anyone following the vote should expect more court fights over online speech in the final week. Nothing changes about when or how Brazilians vote.
- —Still open Chief Justice Edson Fachin, the Supreme Court’s president, is due to meet electoral-court members on Monday 28 September. No appeal by the Bolsonaro campaign had been reported by Sunday evening.
One week before Brazil votes, one of its Supreme Court justices has struck down an election order signed by a colleague. The dispute is over social media posts linking a presidential candidate to an attack on the country’s patron saint.
On Sunday 27 September, Justice Flávio Dino cancelled a takedown order Justice André Mendonça had issued as an electoral judge. It is the latest turn in the fake “patroness” story, which reached nearly a million posts in just over two days.
What the posts were about
Our Lady of Aparecida is Brazil’s most venerated Catholic figure. A 1980 law made 12 October a national holiday in her honour and calls her “Patroness of Brazil”.
From 23 September, according to court filings, posts claimed evangelical allies of Flávio Bolsonaro wanted to remove that title. The story spread after a GloboNews commentary on 24 September, which the channel later corrected.
No such plan by the candidate is known, and he calls the claim fake news. It fed on a real but unrelated bill: a 2007 proposal by then-deputy Victório Galli, shelved in 2008.
Galli became an adviser in Jair Bolsonaro’s government in 2019. The religious stakes are high: Flávio’s coalition leans on evangelical churches, while Aparecida matters to Catholic voters.
What Mendonça ordered
On 25 September, Flávio Bolsonaro filed a complaint at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which runs and polices Brazilian elections. It targeted a post by Antonio Tabet, a comedian and co-founder of the comedy group Porta dos Fundos.
Tabet had written on X: “The militia family hates Black women so much, it decided to attack Our Lady of Aparecida.” He named no one; Aparecida’s statue is dark-skinned.
Mendonça, the TSE’s vice-president, granted an injunction that afternoon. He ordered the post removed, barred Tabet from publishing “substantially similar” content, and set a fine of R$30,000 (about US$5,800) per breach.
Hours later, at the campaign’s request, he ordered X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to remove posts presenting the claim as fact. Outlets counted more than a thousand links, with fines of R$50,000 (about US$9,600) a day per platform.
That order exempted journalism, satire and opinion. Even so, ICL Notícias found posts from a religious account devoted to the Aparecida shrine on the removal list.
How one justice can undo another
Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF) has 11 justices, and most of its rulings are signed by one of them alone. These “monocratic” decisions take effect immediately and are reviewed later by a panel or the full court.
The court also sits above the electoral court on constitutional questions. A tool called a reclamação, or constitutional complaint, lets anyone ask it to cancel a ruling that ignores its binding precedents.
Tabet did not file a new complaint. On Saturday 26 September he asked Dino to extend a 3 June ruling that voided a regional court’s ban on a video.
That video said the former anti-corruption prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol was barred from running. Tabet’s own lawyers conceded that a new complaint would have been “the procedurally more orthodox route”.
What Dino wrote
Dino granted the request and voided all four operative points of Mendonça’s order against Tabet. He told platforms to restore that post “and the others that were deleted on the same grounds”.
Removing the post, he wrote, meant presuming that “militia family” referred to a specific presidential candidate. He saw no “degree of certainty of illegality” to justify “very harsh consequences” for free speech.
He added that a candidate may lawfully oppose the 1980 law, but cannot stop that position being “freely debated”. His ruling still allows coercive or criminal measures later, with due process.
Tabet reposted his message the same afternoon. By about 3:45 p.m. it had 43,000 likes and 14,000 reposts, Folha de S.Paulo reported.
A court split in public
Mendonça and the TSE’s president, Nunes Marques, were both appointed to the Supreme Court by Jair Bolsonaro. Folha reported that a group of justices including Dino had prepared to act as reviewers of TSE decisions.
According to SBT News, one wing of the court saw Dino’s ruling as a usurpation of the electoral court’s role. Another justice told the broadcaster the Supreme Court may also examine TSE decisions.
Chief Justice Edson Fachin is due to meet TSE members at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, SBT News reported. Dino’s ruling is expected to be the main item.
What comes next
Mendonça’s injunction was still awaiting confirmation by the full electoral court. The campaign can challenge Dino’s ruling before the Supreme Court, and Dino invited other affected users to seek the same relief.
The ruling does not make the underlying claim true, and Dino did not say it was. Nor does it change the election date, the ballot or the rules for voting.
The first round is on 4 October, with a run-off on 25 October if needed. Datafolha’s 24 September poll had Lula on 40 percent and Flávio Bolsonaro on 36.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can one Brazilian Supreme Court justice really overturn another?
Not on Supreme Court business. Here Mendonça acted as an electoral judge, and a Supreme Court justice may cancel electoral rulings that breach binding Supreme Court precedents. The decision can be challenged before a wider bench.
What is the TSE?
The Superior Electoral Court runs Brazil’s elections and rules on campaign disputes, including online content. It has seven members: three Supreme Court justices, two judges from the Superior Court of Justice and two lawyers.
Did Flávio Bolsonaro plan to remove Our Lady of Aparecida’s title?
There is no known statement or proposal from him to that effect, and he denies it. The bill that fed the rumour was filed in 2007 by another deputy and shelved in 2008.
Does this affect the 4 October vote?
Not the mechanics. The date, ballot and voting rules are unchanged; the fight is over which posts may circulate.
Sources: Supreme Federal Court, Justice Flávio Dino, decision in Rcl 95.295/PR, 27 September 2026 (full text as published by CartaCapital), Folha de S.Paulo, 27 September 2026, Gazeta do Povo, 27 September 2026, Veja, 27 September 2026, Jovem Pan, 27 September 2026, O Tempo, 27 September 2026, SBT News, Fachin to meet TSE members, 27 September 2026, Poder360, TSE order to platforms, 25 September 2026, Estadão, Democracia em Xeque count of posts, 26 September 2026, Agência Pública, 25 September 2026, Correio Braziliense, 25 September 2026, ICL Notícias, 26 September 2026, CartaCapital, Dallagnol ruling, June 2026, Banco Central do Brasil, reference rate of 25 September 2026 (R$5.1991 per US dollar). All retrieved 27 September 2026.
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