Lula's government has jailed journalists in Brazil.
Posted by Louder with Crowder, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict2 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 55%
Louder with CrowderOct 5, 2026
The claim departs from the passage: the post attributes the jailing of journalists to Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes's censorship authority, not to Lula's government.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… The judge, Maria, who we've talked about, one of the greatest threats to liberty, really, in the Western Hemisphere, he's been given unilateral authority to censor what he deemed disinformation, and, of course, that resulted in jailing journalists, targeting other journalists. So, this is what the people of Brazil are up against. And, of course, Lula, the moment he became president, he jailed the former president 27 years just for questioning the election. He said he was guilty of staging a coup because people protested. …
Louder with Crowder · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. RSF's 2026 report says press freedom improved under President Lula, with the federal government normalising relations with journalists, which cuts against the claim that his government jailed journalists.[4]
Supports. Reuters reports the US accused Justice Alexandre de Moraes of jailing Brazilians for political social-media posts, and Rep. Chris Smith's remarks describe a crackdown 'largely in the name of' Moraes, placing the jailings with the judiciary rather than the executive.[1][3]
Context. The passage ties the jailing of journalists to 'the judge, Maria' (Justice Moraes) who was given unilateral authority to censor 'disinformation'; it does not name Lula's government as the actor responsible.
Context. Older coverage (AP 2019, Wikipedia on Lula's first term) concerns a 2004 attempted deportation of a reporter and a proposed journalists' council, not jailings of journalists by the government.[2][5]
Sources
5 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 primary, 2 not rated
- 1Inside the Trump-administration campaign to return Brazil’s Bolsonaro clan to powerreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Glenn Greenwald becomes focus of Brazil press freedom ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3Brazil: A Crisis of Democracy, Freedom & Rule of Law?”chrissmith.house.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 4Brazilian elections: press freedom has improved under President Lula, but structural challenges and risk of regression persistrsf.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 5Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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