Resolution on the storming of the Brazilian democratic institutions
The European Parliament adopted by 319 votes to 46, with 74 abstentions, a resolution on the storming of the Brazilian democratic institutions.
The text adopted in plenary was tabled by the S&D, Renew, Greens/EFA, The Left groups and Members.
Violent attacks on democratic institutions by the far right are a global phenomenon. On 8 January 2023, thousands of far-right extremists and supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed and vandalised the National Congress, Supreme Court and Alvorada Palace in BrasÃlia, calling for military intervention to overthrow President Lula da Silva.
On 13 January 2023, the Supreme Court approved a request from federal prosecutors to investigate ex-President Bolsonaro as he ‘may have contributed, in a very relevant way, to the occurrence of criminal and terrorist acts’.
The resolution condemns in the strongest terms the criminal actions perpetrated by supporters of the former President Bolsonaro and supports the ongoing efforts to ensure a prompt, impartial, proper and effective investigation in order to identify, prosecute and hold accountable all those involved, including the instigators, organisers and financial backers, as well as state institutions that failed to act to prevent these attacks.
Parliament expresses solidarity with democratically elected President Lula da Silva, his government and Brazilian institutions.
The resolution notes that social media platforms continue to fail to moderate or constrain the diffusion of anti-democratic campaigns, transnational fascism and extremism, especially through algorithms promoting hateful content and disinformation and an unwillingness to remove illegal content. In this regard, Parliament stresses the importance of legislative frameworks, such as the Digital Services Act, regulating social media platforms and tech companies, to effectively combat and prevent the online spread of hate speech and misinformation and thereby avoid further radicalisation.