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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Fri Oct 19, 2018, 06:59 PM Oct 2018

Bolsonaro's son banned from WhatsApp amid claims of fake news campaign

Source: Guardian


After Flávio Bolsonaro tweeted his banishment, WhatsApp said it had ‘proactively banned’ accounts in the Brazil election period

Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent
Fri 19 Oct 2018 14.31 EDT

The politician son of the far-right favourite to become Brazil’s next president has been evicted from WhatsApp amid allegations that his father’s push for power has been turbocharged by an illegal fake news blitz on the Facebook-owned messaging app.

. . .

Haddad called for Bolsonaro to be barred from the presidential race as a result of what he called a criminal “defamation campaign” of fake news and lies.

Polls suggest Bolsonaro – a pro-torture former army captain who enjoys an 18-point lead over Haddad – is on course for a landslide victory in the 28 October runoff vote.

. . .

One of the most outlandish lies being peddled involves the bogus claim that, as São Paulo’s mayor, Haddad equipped schools with so-called “mamadeiras eróticas” (erotic baby bottles) with penis-shaped teats in an supposed bid to fight homophobia.




Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/19/flavio-bolsonaro-banned-whatsapp-fake-news-campaign

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