TSE President Kassio Nunes Marques has ordered Instagram to remove within 24 hours a video linking Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, a presidential pre-candidate, to Banco Master. The preliminary injunction, sought by Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL), also bars reposts and altered versions intended to evade platform detection, with fines for noncompliance.¹

The contested video, published as a dossier by the Lula pela Verdade profile and another user, alleged that money from Rio de Janeiro’s public-servant pension fund, Rioprevidência, had moved through Banco Master to Flávio Bolsonaro and his brother Eduardo Bolsonaro. It also claimed that the film Dark Horse, about former President Jair Bolsonaro, was a front for money laundering.²

PL argued that the allegations were false and amounted to negative early election campaigning. It said the Federal Police’s Compliance Zero operation concerns Rioprevidência’s investments in Banco Master and focuses on former Rio governor Cláudio Castro, without naming Flávio Bolsonaro as a defendant, suspect or person under investigation.²

Nunes Marques’ initial assessment was that the post crossed the line from political criticism into unsupported accusations. “The association of the pre-candidate’s name with people under investigation or criminal facts, without concrete proof,” could harm his reputation and generate early electoral rejection, the ruling said.¹ The judge also ordered Instagram to provide registration and access data that could identify the account holder.

Both accounts of the case describe the order as temporary: those responsible may file a defense, and the full TSE will review the injunction. The left-leaning account emphasizes the court’s view that freedom of expression does not protect knowingly false criminal allegations, while the right-leaning report focuses on the electoral and reputational harm identified by the judge.¹²

Separate posts by Bolsonaro-aligned commentators did not address this ruling directly, but framed other judicial actions against online content as excessive. Allan dos Santos wrote that a regional electoral court had barred the use of “A PAINTING” of Bolsonaro, while Rodrigo Constantino replied “Venezuela!” to a post about a different court-ordered Instagram removal.Allan Dos Santos (allanconta5)³Rodrigo Constantino (Rconstantino)⁴