Something incredibly important for online freedom of expression is happening in Brazil

The judiciary is being weaponized against activists exposing disinformation and its financing. And unscrupulous judges are playing along.

Wanna help? Check this thread (1/11)

In May 2020, the Brazilian version of the Sleeping Giants initiative started operating in Brazil. Sleeping giants are activists that alert companies when their ads show up in sites spreading disinformation and hate (2/11)

The site became very popular and gained recognition from its US counterpart @slpng_giants One of its targets was Jornal da Cidade, a Bolsonaro-friendly site that is synonym to disinfo and hate in Brazil. To the point it is mentioned in a parliamentary investigation as such (3/11)

Guess what: Jornal da Cidade sued Twitter to get the registration info for their account. The objective is to sue for "defamation" and likely to organize targeted harassment. Twitter fought in court. But a judge ordered the info to be delivered. Outrageous (4/11)

This is highly problematic because there was no crime here, other than showing more info to advertisers. They acted responsibly and pulled millions of brazilian reais from this and other sites. Why would judges act like this? (5/11)

The decision was based in a tone-deaf and outdated interpretation of a constitutional provision in Brazil that bans anonymity. That is not the case here: the info behind the profiles is easy to find if there is actual damage and a proper case. That's missing here (6/11)

The judge also disregarded the clear public interest function that @slpng_giants_pt serves with their work. In the end, our heroes decided to come out in their own terms. The big headache to disinformation merchants turned out to be a young couple of law students (7/11)

And here is where YOU COME IN: Leonardo and Mayara need our help. We must share the story and hold power to account. Here is what we can do.
- Twitter and other platforms should keep resisting attempts to silence them, as well as other activists. Demand that! (8/11)

- Professional journalists and media outlets should stand in solidarity and defend them. They, together with other activists, are showing the way.
- Members of the judiciary should act on the public interest. Justice as well as dead if it's a weaponized against activists (9/11)

- Follow @slpng_giants_pt . Follow @intervozes and other Brazilian activists defending them. Get updates.

- Become a sleeping giant yourself and alert companies when their ads show up next to disinformation and hate (10/11)

Finally, here is an interview where Leonardo and Mayara speak about their commitment to transparency. And the danger they face. We could be next, share their story https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/colunas/monicabergamo/2020/12/sleeping-giants-sai-do-anonimato-em-entrevista-a-folha.shtml?utm_source%3Dwhatsapp%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dcompwa

(11/11) end.

BTW, here is the campaign hashtag in Portuguese. Pseudonymity is a right.
#EuSouSleepingGiantsBrasil