Case Summary and Outcome

In a preliminary ruling, a Brazilian court ordered the Federal Union (the federal government) to ensure that their messaging on a supposed Covid-19 treatment be neutral and respectful. A religious leader had promoted the sale and planting of bean seeds on YouTube, suggesting that they could address health issues, including mentioning individuals reportedly recovered from COVID-19. Despite being urged to address the issue, the Brazilian Ministry of Health did not classify the claim of healing through planting bean seeds as false, initially including it in the “fake news” section of its website but later removing it, prompting the Federal Prosecution Office to request reinstatement of that information and an identification of the authorities responsible for its removal. Balancing information rights and religious expression, the Court held that the Federal Union must impartially update the Ministry of Health’s website regarding the efficacy of bean seeds/beans for COVID-19 – but avoiding the term “fake news” – and disclose the identity of those responsible for removing prior information from the website.

Facts

On May 6, 2020, Valdemiro Santiago de Oliveira, the religious leader of the World Church of the Power of God in Brazil, released a video on YouTube encouraging followers to purchase and plant bean seeds, sold by the church for predetermined values ranging from R$100.00 to R$1,000.00. Throughout the video, Pastor Oliveira suggested the possibility of positive outcomes from this practice, mentioning individuals reportedly cured of Covid-19, even in severe cases.

Pastor Oliveira said that “[t]his purpose that God made, that God gave us, that God created, it will change the history of many people’s lives. Those who sow, of course. Even in difficulties, even in this epidemic, and mainly it will provide extraordinary deliverances”. He also mentioned that “[y]ou who listen to me now, did you see in the last meeting of bishops and pastors? Presenting with an exam, a medical report, of people cured of coronavirus, in a terminal state, we can say … very serious, in a very advanced state, and God operated and performed wonders… And there is the exam for anyone who wants… it would be good for a report on Globo, on Bandeirantes, on Record, on SBT, on Rede TV, right? To show a little of the power of God, isn’t it?”. Regarding the acquisition of these seeds, the Pastor stated in the video that, “I will make the ‘purpose’ of one thousand reais for each of them … The ‘purpose’ that I will make is one thousand reais, and many who are watching me will also make one thousand reais, and others will make five hundred reais and, finally, others will make two hundred, two hundred, and even one hundred reais. One thousand, five hundred, two hundred, and even one hundred reais”.

The Federal Prosecution Office (Ministério Público Federal – MPF) filed a public civil action against Pastor Oliveira, the World Church of the Power of God, and the Federal Union. The MPF argued that there was an abusive practice of religious freedom and financial exploitation of believers through the promotion of purported healing properties of bean seeds, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. The MPF requested the condemnation (an indication of guilt) of Pastor Oliveira and the church to pay collective and/or social moral damages, amounting to no less than R$300,000.00 (approximately 50.000 US$ in July 2024), for the abuse of the exercise of religious freedom, worship, and expression of thought.

The Federal Union was included in the case because although the Brazilian Ministry of Health had a messaging channel for COVID-19 inquiries and labeled messages as “fake news” or “true”, it did not categorize the claim of healing through planting bean seeds as false, despite being urged to do so. The MPF stated that initially the Ministry of Health included the information in the “fake news” section of its website, but later this data was removed. Therefore, the MPF requested that the Federal Union reinstate this data on the Ministry of Health’s website and indicate which authorities or public officials decided to remove it.

Decision Overview

Federal Judge Tiago Bitencourt De David, from the 5th Federal Civil Court of São Paulo, delivered the preliminary decision. At this preliminary stage of the proceedings, the central issue for the Court was whether it would be appropriate to order that the Federal Union immediately reinstates on its official website the information debunking Pastor Oliveria’s statements.

The Federal Union argued that the removal of this information from the Ministry of Health’s website occurred after it was determined that its presence inadvertently led to questioning the faith and beliefs of a segment of the population, thereby undermining its primary objective, which is to alert the public against misinformation regarding the treatment and cure of Covid-19. It explained that the Brazilian government had been implementing necessary measures to counteract misinformation that posed risks to public health and causes social harm, including providing information on its website that there are no scientific studies confirming the efficacy of certain foods in curing or treating Covid-19.

As this is a preliminary decision, the Judge assessed whether there was an urgent situation that supported the MPF’s argument and could not wait until the end of the judicial procedure. This is why, at least in this preliminary ruling, the central issue for the Court was whether it would be appropriate to order that the Federal Union immediately reinstates the information on its official website. Additionally, the Court would have to preliminarily verify if the Federal Union should identify which authorities or public officials were responsible for removing the information from the official Ministry of Health website.

As the decision was delivered during the pandemic, the Judge deemed it appropriate for the Federal Union, through the Ministry of Health, to provide clarifying information at that time regarding the facts presented by the MPF. Accordingly, the Court stated, “[p]roviding clarification to the population later will not result in practical effects in favor of the people”. [p. 5]

The Court concluded that the facts presented by the MPF, even in a preliminary analysis, were highly plausible. Pastor Oliveira had announced a supposed cure and attributed healing properties to the beans whose acquisition would occur for a certain amount of money, and, although the original videos were deleted, they continued to be disseminated by other sources and were analyzed by many YouTubers. It held that “there was a linkage between the promotion of religious belief, the delivery of the artifact (bean seeds/beans), the cure of COVID-19, and the request for money, payment in cash referred to as ‘purpose’ by the religious leader”. [p. 6]

The Court noted that, in Brazil, the State is secular, which means that “freedom of belief cannot be unduly restricted by the State, nor can it be co-opted by a religious entity”. [p. 6] Quoting Article 19 of the Brazilian Constitution, it highlighted that “the relationship between the Brazilian State and religions is not one of union or confusion, but of separation, maintaining the Public Power at an equal distance from them and the distinct professions of faith, without subsidizing them, having an alliance or dependency relationship with them, or hindering their operation”. [p. 6]

In addition to the government not being able to harm or benefit a particular religion, it also cannot oversee people’s decisions, “under penalty of harmful paternalism”. The Court explained that “[i]f a person wishes to spend their money in one way and not another, that is their business, and the Government cannot say that they are ignorant and do not know how to make good choices, unless the will is not being expressed in an informed and conscious manner”. [p. 6] The Court affirmed that legal moralism is incompatible with the Rule of Law and warned that “[s]ooner or later, the desire to oversee people against themselves ends up leading to authoritarianism, regardless of its nature”. [p. 6]

With reference to Article 196 of the Brazilian Constitution, the Court emphasized that the Government has a duty to inform its citizens about the means of prevention, promotion, and recovery of health and that informing “is not obstructing a profession of faith or preventing people from making choices they deem pertinent,” but means “providing conditions for informed and conscious choice, allowing an increase in the capacity to choose among options on how to conduct oneself.” [p. 7]

Accordingly, the Court concluded that the Brazilian Ministry of Health was responsible for informing citizens about its actions during the pandemic, as well as presenting scientifically corroborated methods of prevention and recovery, and identifying those that are not. In the present case, the Court highlighted that “the case of the beans has become so significant that it can no longer be ignored, to the extent that the Ministry of Health itself had already expressed its opinion on the matter, so ignoring the issue ceased to be an option given the magnitude of the fact, which has already been widely disseminated on the internet”.

The Court added that the Ministry of Health should not label the information disseminated by the pastor as “fake news” because the term is a “foreignism that does not portray a legal category and whose use may conceal an attempt to invalidate opinions different from those advocated”. It noted that, in the video, the pastor made a broad offer and so it would be up to the Brazilian government to “inform the population about the healing (in)effectiveness of the bean presented as blessed and allegedly endowed with health-restoring power”. [p. 7] The Court held that the Government has the duty to inform but cannot pass judgment on matters of faith and so “[t]he State asserting that information is fake news proves to be incompatible with the seriousness, clarity, and neutrality that should guide public communication”.

In order to harmonize the right to information and the right to the expression of religious belief, the Court ordered the Federal Union to inform on the Ministry of Health’s website continuously, carefully, and respectfully, in a neutral manner, whether there is proven efficacy of the artifact (bean seeds/beans) regarding COVID-19, but without using the term “fake news”. Additionally, in line with the argument about the public duty to inform, the Federal Union was ordered to provide the identity of whoever decided to suppress the information previously disseminated on the Ministry of Health’s website.