Investigated Content: Video on Kwai shares a TV news clip from the channel CNN Brazil about a document with economic proposals written by people linked to the PT. At the top of the video, a text was inserted that warns people to “keep an eye out”, because “Lula will take your money” that is stored “in the bank, in savings, (…) in applications in general”. According to the text, these proposals would be foreseen “in the PT statute”.
where it was published: Kwai.
Completion of Proof: A video shared on the social network Kwai is false that suggests that former president and presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will confiscate the money deposited by Brazilians in savings accounts or in applications in general, if he wins the October election. Contrary to what the post says, the proposal is not part of the PT’s statute.
There is no mention of such proposals in the party’s statute or in the document with the guidelines of Lula’s ticket and his deputy, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB). Confiscation of financial assets is also prohibited by the Federal Constitution since 2001the year in which Constitutional Amendment nº 32 was enacted.
To make the statement, the video is based on an excerpt from a CNN Brasil news program, which aired in February, in which a journalist makes a comment on a document written by people linked to the PT with economic proposals studied by the acronym. During the journalist’s speech, a possible emergency tax on large fortunes is mentioned, but no proposal related to confiscation of financial assets.
Falsefor Comprova, is content invented or edited to change its original meaning and deliberately disseminated to spread a falsehood.
Scope of publication: Comprova investigates the most far-reaching suspicious content on social networks. As of July 13, the post verified here had more than 2,800 likes, 679 comments and more than 3,500 shares. The content was also published by state deputy Ricardo Amorim (PL-PR) on his Instagram profile, where he has more than 91 thousand views. The post has already been flagged as false content.
What the author of the publication says: Through Kwai’s messaging tool, Comprova contacted the profile that posted the content, but there was no response.
How do we check: Comprova started a search for the keywords “PT statute” and “CNN” on Google and found that the same disinformation content found in this check had already been analyzed by the Estadão Check, UOL Check and Rumors.org.
Also through this search, it was possible to locate the report on the website of the CNN Brazil which deals with the elaboration of a document with the PT’s proposals for the Brazilian economy, in case Lula is victorious in this year’s presidential election. The same content was found in broadcaster’s YouTube channel.
We also searched the PT website for information related to the acronym statuswhose latest version is from 2017 and the document with the Lula-Alckmin ticket guidelinesreleased last June 21st.
The CNN video
The original video is from the CNN Express program, from February 1, 2022. The publication investigated here uses the excerpt from 00 ’02” to 02 ′ 05″ of the original video. There are no edits or cuts during this section. In it, journalist Caio Junqueira says that people linked to the PT and Lula prepared an “internal document” with the party’s proposals for the economy.
Among the proposals would be the declaration of a “state of emergency”, with the breaking of fiscal rules; the correction of the budget inherited from the previous year; the recovery of the investment capacity of public banks and state-owned companies; the levying of taxes on large fortunes, profits and dividends; the resumption of the Bolsa Família and Mais Médicos programs and the call for emergency public tenders. During the journalist’s speech there is no mention of proposals that are related to confiscation of financial assets deposited in banks.
In the original video, from 02’06” (that is, in the excerpt that is not part of the post analyzed here), the CNN journalist continues his speech saying that other sources linked to the PT have informed him that the proposals present in the document do not necessarily mean that they will be put into practice, and that Lula’s current concern is strictly with political issues and that economic proposals have not yet “entered the former president’s radar”.
PT statute does not speak of confiscation of assets
PT’s statute is available on the legend’s website. There are no economic guidelines or government proposals in the document. The statute only describes the operating rules and powers assigned to some of the positions within the party.
In relation to Lula-Alckmin ticket guidelines, released last June, there is also no mention of confiscations. In the chapter entitled “Economic Development”, some of the proposals mentioned are: “repeal the spending ceiling and review the current Brazilian tax regime”; promote a “fair and sustainable tax reform, reducing consumption taxation, ensuring tax progressivity”; “make the very rich pay taxes” and “recompose the inducing and coordinating role of the State and state-owned companies”.
Constitution prohibits confiscation
Article 62 of the federal Constitution deals with situations in which the President of the Republic may adopt provisional measures with the force of law, provided they are submitted to the National Congress.
Constitutional Amendment 32, published in September 2001, however, established some prohibitions, such as the seizure of assets, popular savings or any other financial asset held by Brazilians. In these cases, the enactment of any provisional measure that changes the rule is prohibited.
The legislation was amended 11 years after the episode in which the then President of the Republic, Fernando Collor de Mello, announced the blocking of savings accounts and financial investments of Brazilians, in 1990. The measure was part of the Collor Plan and was intended to contain the increase in inflation in the period.
why do we investigate: Comprova investigates suspicious content that went viral on social media about the covid-19 pandemic, public policies of the federal government and presidential elections. This time, the uninformative piece deals with an alleged statute of the PT, which has Lula as a pre-candidate for the presidency of the Republic. False and misleading content is harmful to the democratic process because it undermines the voter’s right to make their choice based on facts, not rumors and misinformation.
Other checks on the topic:
The content verified here has also been verified by other verification agencies such as Estadão Check, UOL Check and Rumors.org. Comprova has already investigated other disinformation content concerning the PT and the former president and showed that it is false that Lula and the president-elect of Colombia want to force people to share houses with other familieswhat the sentence attributed to Lula with threats to the STF is false is that anti-Bolsonaro protest in Italy had no protesters sent by the PT.
Investigated by: Piauí, Imirante.com and CBN Cuiabá. Verified by: CNN Brasil, Correio de Carajás, Metrópoles, Plural Curitiba, Folha de S. Paulo, O Estado de S. Paulo, Correio Braziliense, O Dia, Nexo and A Gazeta.
Source: CNN Brasil
