TSE Review Finds Deleted Messages but No Verified False Posts in Janones Channel

TSE Review Finds Deleted Messages but No Verified False Posts in Janones Channel
A technical review by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has put the spotlight on deleted and edited messages in André Janones’ WhatsApp channel, “Lula’s Army,” without confirming that the specific content challenged by Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaign remained available during the period reviewed.

The court’s anti-disinformation team examined posts published between October 2 and 11 and said it found no new messages reproducing content previously deemed false by the court. It also noted important limits: some videos were not transcribed because of the urgency of the review, while messages posted in September had been deleted from October 7 onward, making the channel’s earlier history harder to reconstruct. The report nonetheless identified a large potential audience, coordinated calls for followers to share material across platforms, and what it described as recurring polarizing language.

Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaign reaches a different conclusion from those same gaps. It alleges that Janones deleted 219 posts in 18 minutes during the early hours of October 8, arguing that the removals were systematic and designed to hinder scrutiny by electoral authorities and WhatsApp. The campaign says it preserved copies of the channel in real time and will submit further evidence to the TSE, including material it says linked the channel to videos containing false claims about Bolsa Família payments and pensions.

Both accounts acknowledge that the channel was structured for rapid, broad dissemination among millions of followers. But they differ over what the available record establishes. The TSE review says it did not locate the particular alleged false posts in the reviewed material; Bolsonaro’s campaign argues that their absence is itself a consequence of deletion.

The disagreement follows conflicting TSE decisions over whether to suspend the channel. A suspension ordered at the campaign’s request was later reversed after the court found the evidence insufficient at that stage, leaving the underlying dispute focused on what deleted records can prove.

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