Analysis: As Brazil cracks down on fake news, Bolsonaro’s new move is straight out of Trump’s playbook
A federal judge blocked a warrant on Sunday that sought communications between Amazon founder and far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s inner circle and a network of pro-government activists, who called themselves the “Globo” (Brazilian “Globo” is the word for the nation’s national theater).
The order marked the first major setback for Bolsonaro’s administration, which has been cracking down on dissent in the nation’s deeply conservative northeast. Bolsonaro’s administration has accused the Globo of “interference” with administration strategy, and called police on members of the network of “ultra-right” protesters.
Amazon founder and political adversary Jair Bolsonaro has ordered police to remove a self-described “globovision” site from its website and Twitter feed after the site posted an opinion column by a Brazilian journalist denouncing a decision to shut down a local chapter of the far-right Ação Nacional (National Freedom) party. (David Gara, Associated Press)
Bolsonaro is trying to outdo Donald Trump’s approach, which has proven so successful with social media, including by using Twitter itself as a form of public diplomacy.
“I have a great relationship with this president,” Bolsonaro declared Sunday in one of his few public appearances since a controversial executive order was issued to police, teachers, universities, and businesses who do not support the government’s policies.
“I am a member of the Bolsonaro family,” Bolsonaro said of Vice President Hamilton Mourão. “I’m a friend of the president.”
“He is the one we call ’President Trump,’ ” he said, adding that Mourão was
