Flávio Dino Declares Loss of Object in Tabet Post Case After TSE Decision

Supreme Tribunal Federal (STF) Justice Flávio Dino declared the loss of object and closed an action concerning mass content removals on social media platforms that had linked right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro to an alleged plan to strip Our Lady of Aparecida of her title as patron saint of Brazil. The decision followed a collective vote by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on September 30, which overturned a previous single-judge order by Justice André Mendonça and restored a publication by comedian Antonio Tabet on the X platform.

TSE Plenary Vote Restores Comedian Post

The legal dispute began on September 25, when André Mendonça ordered the removal of Tabet’s post after a request from Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who denied intending to alter the religious title of Brazil’s patron saint. Tabet’s post stated that the “família miliciana” had attacked Our Lady of Aparecida. On September 27, Justice Flávio Dino issued a preliminary injunction suspending Mendonça’s order, citing freedom of religion and protections against mass censorship. During the TSE virtual session on September 30, scheduled by court president Kassio Nunes Marques, justices debated the breadth of the removal orders, leading Mendonça to adjust his vote and release Tabet’s specific post.

Jurisdiction Clash Between Supreme and Electoral Courts

Dino argued that the STF holds exclusive authority to provide the definitive interpretation of the Constitution. Dino emphasized the STF routinely reviews constitutional matters from other high courts, rejecting the idea that electoral justice decisions are immune to STF constitutional review. In his initial defense of the removals, Mendonça maintained that his orders did not restrict religious freedom or constitute illegal prior restraint, targeting only demonstrably false factual claims about a candidate during an election.

Dino decreed the loss of object and ended the action on October 1. Dino highlighted that it would be an anomaly to constitutional rules and to republican and democratic principles to assume that decisions of Electoral Justice were immune to control via Constitutional Claim. He recalled that judgments from the Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ), Tribunal Superior do Trabalho (TST), and Superior Tribunal Militar (STM) are routinely reviewed by the Supreme Court regarding constitutional matters.

TSE Mandates Removal of Unequivocal Publications

Following the TSE plenary decision, the electoral court mandated that platforms remove only unequivocal publications directly associating Flávio Bolsonaro with an intent to strip Our Lady of Aparecida of her patron title, while protecting posts with reasonable doubt, including Tabet’s, under freedom of expression. Because the TSE aligned its position with the STF’s objectives and eliminated broad censorship powers granted to platforms, Dino withdrew his request to submit his preliminary decision to the STF full court. Dino pointed out that the TSE had accumulated over a hundred monocratic decisions without plenary analysis, though Dino clarified that the case is not formally finished and new referrals will occur if further intervention becomes necessary.