- False: It is false that elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) spent 9,400 euros at the Solar dos Presuntos restaurant in Portugal. The photo of the account circulating on the internet dates from November 16, when Lula was not even in the country. Furthermore, the same image was used in another disinformation piece, in which spending was attributed to the Prime Minister of Portugal. The restaurant itself denied the rumor in a Facebook post.
Conclusion of Comprova: President-elect Lula (PT) did not spend 9,400 euros in a restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal. The photo of the account used in the disinformation piece is from November 16, when Lula was not in the European country, but in Egypt. According to the politician’s agenda and publications on his social networks, Lula was still at the 27th United Nations Climate Conference, COP 27. It was only on November 18 that the president-elect arrived in Portugal.
Furthermore, as shown on the website Observer, from Portugal, the same image also circulated in the country as part of another piece of disinformation. In this case, the expenses at the Solar dos Presuntos restaurant were attributed to the Portuguese government, accused of having paid for a lunch that took place there in reference to the centenary of José Saramago. The meeting was attended by Portuguese personalities and the country’s Prime Minister, António Costa.
Falsefor Comprova, is content that was invented or that has been edited to change its original meaning and deliberately disseminated to spread falsehood.
publication reach: Until November 21, the publication on Twitter had 16.4 thousand shares, 49.4 thousand likes and 4.1 thousand comments.
What the person responsible for the publication says: The profile of Roger Rocha Moreira, vocalist of the band Ultraje a Rigor, was one of those who published the misinformation on Twitter. He is a supporter of President Jair Bolsonaro and has already posted uninformative content on other occasionsincluding during the elections🇧🇷 Roger’s account doesn’t allow sending direct messages to accounts that don’t follow each other. Comprova searched for the band through the contacts available on the group’s website, seeking Roger’s position on the publication. Until the closure of the text, we had no response. However, the same publication was made by several profiles on Twitter, with less reach and small changes in the text of the post.
How do we check: In the very piece of disinformation published on Twitter, some users responded to the author of the post stating that the account did not belong to Lula. In one of the responses, a user posted the check made by Observer and another responded with another check on the topic made by the site Rumors.org🇧🇷
In addition to these contents, we checked Lula’s social networks, where the president-elect published his commitments during his international trip. In the posts, it was possible to see that Lula was in Egypt in the days 16 and 17 of November, and which only arrived in Portugal on 18🇧🇷 After participating in COP 27, in Egypt, the Brazilian politician was received in Portugal by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at the official Portuguese residence, Palácio de Belém, and later had a bilateral meeting with the country’s Prime Minister, António Costa. Lula’s agenda ended on Saturday (19) morning, with a meeting with Brazilians who live in Portugal.
Finally, we got in touch with Lula’s press office, who also denied the information that the account belonged to the PT politician, informing that “on November 16th the former president was in Egypt and did not have any meal at Solar dos Presuntos in his passage through Portugal”. Also according to the press office, during the period he was in the country, Lula “had lunch at the Cícero restaurant and had dinner with the Portuguese prime minister at the government palace.”
Restaurant debunked another rumor about the same image
In addition to the publications that circulated on Twitter allying the image of the Solar dos Presuntos account to Lula, the same photo was used as disinformation, accusing the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, and the local government, of having paid the bill for almost 10 thousand euros.
On its Facebook page, the Solar dos Presuntos published a text stating that “the invoice that circulates does not correspond to the invoice for the prime minister’s meal” and that the owners of the place were “indignant with the falsehoods that circulate”.
why do we investigate: Comprova investigates suspicious content that goes viral on social media about presidential elections, federal government public policies and the pandemic. Content that disseminates allegations or accusations without pointing out true evidence helps to misinform, causing damage to democracy and the free choice of the population through voting.
Other checks on the topic: The same piece of misinformation was denied in Brazil by the website Rumors.org and in Portugal by Observer🇧🇷 Comprova has already shown that Bolsonaro did not make a “Letter to the Nation” to support demonstrationsthat a Video by André Janones was edited to falsely suggest that Lula wants to end Brazil Aid and also what other video invents statements by Gleisi Hoffmann about reducing benefits for military personnel in the Lula government🇧🇷
Investigated by Gauchzh and eEstadão. Verified by UOL, Folha de S.Paulo, NSC Comunicação, A Gazeta, Metrópoles, Plural Curitiba and CBN Cuiabá.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
