COP30 State governor gets social media accounts under suspension orders
04 de May de 2025
By Fabyo Cruz – From Cenarium
BELÉM (PA) – The Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU) requested that the Federal Court suspend the social media accounts of Pará Governor Helder Barbalho (MDB). The request, filed on April 25, was prompted by non-compliance with a preliminary injunction ordering the removal of posts containing false information about the Indigenous occupation of the headquarters of the State Department of Education (Seduc), in addition to requiring the publication of a video as a right of reply on the government’s social media channels.
In March of this year, a preliminary injunction was issued, setting a daily fine of R$10,000, capped at R$500,000, in the event of non-compliance. The defendants — the State of Pará and the governor himself — were notified on April 7. The deadline for posting the video expired on April 12. So far, Helder Barbalho and the State Attorney General’s Office (PGE) have remained silent on the matter.
The DPU’s measure comes amid a series of disputes involving the now-repealed State Law No. 10.820/2024, which called for the gradual replacement of the Modular Education System (Some) with the Interactive Educational System (SEI), converting in-person classes into remote ones. On January 14 of this year, demonstrators — mostly teachers and Indigenous leaders — occupied the Seduc building, demanding the repeal of the measure.
The mobilization had an effect on February 12, when the Legislative Assembly of Pará (Alepa) unanimously repealed the law, responding to the demands of educators and Indigenous peoples. However, according to the DPU, the governor had attacked the movement on his social media platforms.
On January 31, he stated that the demands had already been “100% met” and described the protest as based on “disinformation” and “fake news.” He also claimed that “there never was and never will be” any intention to replace in-person teaching with remote classes. However, the Defender’s Office refuted those claims.
In documents submitted to the court, the DPU pointed out that in August 2024, the Secretary of Education himself, Rossieli Soares da Silva, had announced the expansion of distance education through the Pará State Education Media Center (Cemep), including for Indigenous communities. According to the DPU, Helder Barbalho’s statements constituted the spread of disinformation and represented “an attack on Indigenous mobilization, which may foster prejudice and xenophobia.”
The institution had already filed a public civil lawsuit on February 2 against the State of Pará, the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai), and Meta Platforms, Inc. — the company responsible for Facebook and Instagram. In the lawsuit, the Defender’s Office demanded an official retraction for the false news posted on the government’s social media, as well as the accountability of public officials involved in the disinformation campaign.
The company Facebook Serviços Online do Brasil Ltda. informed the court that it contacted Meta to restrict some of the content. The Government of Pará, however, denied any wrongdoing, claiming there was no hate speech or disinformation in the published material.
CENARIUM requested a statement from Governor Helder Barbalho. In a note, the governor’s press office stated that “the case is being handled in court and awaits a proper decision.”