The Youtuber and blogger, who is currently on the run from Brazilian justice, is one of the most prominent digital media figures associated with Olavo de Carvalho, a guru of conservatism with significant influence on the national extreme right.
Dos Santos, owner of the now-defunct Terça Livre portal and very popular in far-right social networks, is best known for spreading fake news.
The communicator, who has been in the US since August 2020, received an arrest warrant from Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the STF in October.
The action was taken as part of the investigation launched by De Moraes in July 2021 to look into the alleged existence of a “criminal organization with heavy digital activity and with production, publishing, funding and political cores”.
In the same ruling, the judge also ordered the deletion of all of Dos Santos’ social media accounts, the suspension of its bank accounts and Terça Livre’s website, leading to the closure and sacking of the entire team.
Defense attorneys in the habeas corpus petition denied the existence of the crimes identified by De Moraes and pointed to unlawfulness in the judge’s conduct.
According to the lawyers, there are no concrete indications of the existence of a suspected “criminal organization to attack the institutions of the republic, the democratic constitutional state and the tripartite separation of powers” to which the journalist would belong.
In February, the Federal Police (PF) sent a report to the STF citing the existence of a digital militia operating through a “cabinet of hate” against the country’s democratic institutions.
“It is also observed that the organization not only encourages attacks on traditional information media and encourages polarization and sharpening of debate, but also uses this structure to anonymously attack people (political opponents, STF ministers, members of the government itself),” wrote the delegate of the PF Denisse Ribeiro.
All this, he warned, “to pave the way to achieve the stated goals (ideological, partisan and financial gains)”.
The delegate also reported that the group had been spreading false information about the pandemic. “As an example, one can cite, among other things, the topic of early treatment against Covid-19 with the use of hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine and azithromycin”, scientifically tested drugs that do not work against the pathogen.
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