“The Blob” in Brazil: TGP Exposes the Million-Dollar US Censorship Industry Attacking Free Speech in Brazil as Half a Million Brazilians Protest for Freedom in São Paulo

Half a million Brazilians came out Saturday in São Paulo and more all across the country to protest the massive censorship campaign against X and the persecution of opposition citizens, journalists and politicians. Gateway Pundit reveals the network of US Deep State funded “Non”-Governmental Oganizations fighting free speech in Brazil, which are a product with the same censorship complex active in the United States and Europe.

LIVE FROM BRAZIL’S FREE SPEECH RALLY

Brazilians rise up together against the tyranny of Alexandre de Moraes and his ban.

Join us throughout the day for exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews from the rally that’s shaking the nation.

Our crew, @VickyRichterUSA,… pic.twitter.com/qQUmb30u4G

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 7, 2024

Twitter Files journalist Michael Shellenberger risked possible prosecution in Brazil to attend the free speech rally Staurday with President Jair Bolsonaro, son Eduardo Bolsonaro and many others.

Brazilian President Lula and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes say they must block X to protect Brazil’s independence. X is a platform for dangerous, false, and hateful words, they say, and many of those words violate Brazil’s laws and Constitution.

But their censorship… pic.twitter.com/mu1lROzzoN

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) September 7, 2024

“Brazilian President Lula and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes say they must block X to protect Brazil’s independence. X is a platform for dangerous, false, and hateful words, they say, and many of those words violate Brazil’s laws and Constitution. But their censorship goes far beyond what Brazil’s constitution allows. The government demanded that X and other social media networks censor and ban individual people, including journalists and politicians. Such bans are immoral, illegal, and unconstitutional. They constitute election interference and undermine democracy by preventing candidates from getting the word out”, Shellenberger wrote.

Know who to blame for what’s happening to X in Brazil right now? The US State Department. pic.twitter.com/SysHFiXezQ

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) April 7, 2024

Censorship expert Mike Benz of “Foundation for Freedom Online” has posted repeatedly about the government-organized NGO (GONGO) network behind the onslaught on freedom of speech in Brazil and the West in general, urging House Republicans to take urgent action against the tyrannical assault on democracy led by the US foreign policy establishment.

What’s happening with censorship in Brazil goes all the way to the top. Just ONE MONTH into Lula’s term, President Biden and President Lula met in Washington & SPECIFICALLY pledged the US government would “work together” with Brazil’s government to stamp out “disinformation.” pic.twitter.com/h1SPRitPtN

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) September 6, 2024

Benz charges that the Pentagon, State Department, National Endowment for Democracy, USAID, Atlantic Council and other censorship drivers have been pushing for censorship of Bolsonaro supporters since 2019.

It is not an accident that the US State Dept, USAID & NED poured millions into developing Brazil’s censorship ecosystem. Biden pledged to “work together” with Lula on stamping out “disinformation,” which means State’s censorship work in Brazil likely had White House NSC approval. https://t.co/4UUVfniZDL

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) September 6, 2024

Today, Gateway Pundit presents an overview of the US-funded censorship complex in Brazil and its funding:

The Brazilian Censorship Industrial Complex – Top Two:

The two most important censorship NGOs are “Media Matters” clone “Agência Lupa” and the “Fundação Getúlio Vargas” think tank:

Agência Lupa

Agência Lupa is the lead Brazilian “fact-checking organization”, which regularly attacks Elon Musk aqnd Jair Bolsonaro. “Provides training to students and professionals to contribute to the prevalence of fact-checking techniques and tools.” Member of Trust Project and Credibility Coalition. Partners with Meedan Check. Membership in News Fund 2021 (Luminate & Google News Initiative).
US Dept. of State 2019: $150,000 (“To cover costs of the year-long program to be provided by Agencia Lupa to develop journalists, students, and journalism teachers in fact-checking.”)

Fundação Getúlio Vargas
Department of Public Policy Analysis (FGV DAPP)
Center for Technology & Society

FGV is Brazil’s oldest business school and think tank, founded 1944. During the 2018 Brazilian presidential elections, FGV DAPP coordinated the Digital Democracy Room to “monitor public debate and potential threats to its integrity.” Through this initiative, FGV DAPP provided “research and analysis on issues related to misinformation online, bot networks, and foreign influence in public discourse” and worked with the Consultative Council on Internet and Elections of the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court. FGV has also joined the Atlantic Council‘s #ElectionWatch project, which monitored “foreign influence” in Brazilian, Colombian, and Mexican elections in 2018. Partners with DPA, funded by Craig Newmark, Pierre Omidyar, Open Society, EU. Member of Trust Project.

Open Society funding for FGV: 2018: $55,000,
2020: $110,000 (Digital Democracy Room, an information and electoral integrity project for Latin American countries)
$200,000  (CyberBRICS project, mapping existing regulation, identifying best practices, and developing policy recommendations for BRICS countries on topics of internet policy),
2021: $180,000 & 2023 $180,000 for Center for Racial Justice and Law
Open Society funding for Center for Technology & Society: 2022 $250,000, 2023 $450,000

Luminate: 2018: $88,000 “Rapid Response Grant” to “support FGV Department of Public Policy Analysis (FGV DAPP)’s project focused on near real-time monitoring of disinformation and fake news in Brazil’s 2018 elections, with the goals of positively influencing public debates and informing electoral authorities and policymakers on how to deal with related challenges”

US Dept. of State: 2021: $20,000 (“Project to train cis and trans women candidates on soft and hard skills needed for the full exercise of their political rights. It contributes to the reduction of the deficit in gender representation by increasing women’s access to politics in Brazil.”)
2022: $24,435 (“The purpose of the award is to fill a gap between media professionals and the scientific community on how to communicate climate change and climate risk to the public in Brazil.”)

… but we pushed Brazil to be this bad

Our US government programs did. Our US government-funded institutions did.

We have literal formal gov’t programs at State whose job is getting foreign countries to pass censorship laws, & the main one spent 30% of its budget just on Brazil

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) September 3, 2024

The Brazilian Censorship Blob (alphabetical)

Abraji – Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo (Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism)
“A non-profit institution composed of and run by journalists, dedicated to improving Brazilian journalism and defending freedom of expression.” Member of Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN). Runs Projeto Comprova.
US Dept. of State: 2020-2024: $233762
Luminate: 2020: $230,000

Agência Pública (O Truco Project)
“Founded in 2011 by women reporters, Agência Pública is the largest nonprofit newsroom in Brazil.” Conducts fact-checking through its Truco project. Member of Credibility Coalition. Funded by Ford Foundation, OAK Foundation.
Open Society: 2020: $27,000 for Centro de Jornalismo Investigativo “to support Agencia Publica’s investigative journalism on disinformation around the Covid-19 crisis”
Luminate: 2023: $120,000, 2024: $750,550

Aos Fatos
Conducts fact-checking and provides technology and consulting services to organizations interested in automated fact-checking products and data verification. They also conduct fact-checking for internal reporting. Aos Fatos built Fátima, a fact-checking robot for Facebook messenger. Aos Fatos is one of Facebook’s Third-Party Fact-Checkers. Member of Credibility Coalition.

Estadão Verifica
Brazilian fact-checking initiative housed at Estadão think tank, a member of the International Fact-Checking Network and Credibility Coalition. Partners with Meedan.

Fato ou Fake
By Globo Group. Brings together journalists from G1, O Globo, Extra, Época, Valor, CBN, GloboNews and TV Globo.

Instituto Igarapé
“Sonducts research and analysis on Brazilian and international security and development with a thematic focus on cybersecurity. The organization’s experts have written on the role of bots in Brazilian political discourse and disinformation in Latin America more generally.” Its researchers also “create data visualization tools to help address problems in security and development.”
Open Society: 2016: $121,664, $321,283, $500,000, 2017: $62,900, 2018: $530,000, 2020: $470,000, 2021: $283,000, 2022: $400,000, $300,000, $400,000
Luminate: 2017: $810,000, 2020: $400,000, 2021: $120,000 (Total: $ 1,330,000)

Instituto Vero
Aims to “protect democracy, promote online discourse, and develop solutions to combat misinformation.” Founded by YouTube influencer Felipe Neto (46 million followers)
In 2023, Neto waged a harassment campaign against the journalist Andreza Matais, then-editor of the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo. In Twitter Files – Brazil Part 2, David Agape and Eli Vieira revealed that “Neto had privileged access to Twitter, which he used to request censorship during the COVID-19 pandemic.” On April 26, 2024, Neto announced he had partnered with the U.S. Embassy. Instituto Vero works directly with the Superior Electoral Court’s (TSE) “Misinformation Confrontation Program.” In 2020, Instituto Vero trained TSE staff on “identifying and combating misinformation.” sponsored TSE events featuring Graham Brookie, senior director at Atlantic Council’s DFRLab.
Open Society: 2021 $250,000

InternetLab: Law and Technology Research Center (Associacao InternetLab de Pequisa em Direito e Tecnologica)
Through its project on Electoral Rights in the Digital Era, INTERNETLAB has convened experts in electoral law and experts on the digital environment to address issues like digital propaganda and the use of bots in elections. INTERNETLAB has also produced a guidebook for citizens navigating technology platforms titled “Surviving on the Networks,” and it runs a project titled Você na mira meant to empower citizens in the face of digital microtargeting during elections. Open Society: 2016: $100,000, 2018: $220,000, 2019: $100,000, 2020: $70,000, 2021: $350,000.
Luminate:  2019: $360,000, 2023: $655,000 (Total US$1,015,000)

NetLab
Based at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Claimed in a report on April 24, 2024 that X owner Elon Musk had used “bots,” or fake users, to criticize de Moraes on X. “Minister Alexandre de Moraes summoned Google executives to testify based solely on a 2023 NetLab report about Google after a Lula government official initiated an investigation, and the president of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, equivalent to the House of Representatives in the United States, filed a criminal complaint.” (David Agape on Public).

Projeto Comprova
Led by Abraji, Projeto Comprova is a coalition of 40 Brazilian media outlets that “work collaboratively to uncover and investigate misleading, fabricated, or deliberately false information shared on social networks or messaging apps.”
In September 2021, Comprova began selecting media outlets to join the +Redações project. With support from the Embassy of the United States, six media organizations, one from each region of the country and another from the Federal District, were selected to receive training and a scholarship allowing one journalist from each outlet to dedicate themselves to Comprova until the end of 2022: Plural, O Dia, Portal Imirante, Rádio CBN Cuiabá, Portal Norte de Notícias, and Metrópoles.
Comprova is supported by First Draft, from whom it adapted its methodology, Meta Journalism Project, and Google News Initiative.

Sleeping Giants Brazil
Established May 2020. Brazilian chapter of the left-wing demonetization campaign, which targets advertisers on conservative web sites like Breitbart and Gateway Pundit.
“Launched a campaign to demonetize X, after Musk criticized de Moraes. During the 2022 election campaign, the TSE, chaired by Moraes, endorsed recommendations made by SGBR, and in August 2023, Mayara Stelle, co-founder of Sleeping Giants, participated in the “Combating Disinformation and Defending Democracy” seminar held by the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), alongside Alexandre de Moraes. NetLab praised Sleeping Giants Brazil as “a successful example in combating Fake News.” (David Agape on Public).
Open Society: 2022: $400.000, 2023: $722,000; also funded by Ford Foundation

International

Meedan
In Brazil’s 2022  election, Meedan formed a coalition of newsrooms with Agência Lupa, Aos Fatos, Projeto Comprova, Estadão Verifica, and Universo Online (UOL) and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) under the label Confirma 2022.
Check software for fact-checking on WhatsApp in partnership with Estadão Verifica, Agência Lupa, Fato ou Fake and AFP.
National Science Foundation Contract for Meedan Inc. 2021-24: $5,749,974 (“Fact Champ Fact-Checker, Academic, and Community Collaboration Tools, Combating Hate, Abuse, and Misinformation with Minority-Led Partnerships.”)
National Science Foundation Grant for Meedan Labs: 2021: $255,997 (Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I: Identifying and countering misinformation on closed messaging platforms (COVID-19))
Open Society: 2017: $150,000

Trust Project
Projeto Credibilidade is the Brazilian Chapter of Craig Newmark’s Trust Project. A partnership between Projor – the Institute for Development of Journalism and Unesp – Universidade Estadual Paulista. Projor Funding was provided by Google News Initiative and Facebook Journalism Project. In 2019, Six Brazilian news organizations joined the Trust Project: Agência Lupa, Agência Mural, Folha de S. Paulo, Nexo Jornal, O Povo and Poder360. Gazeta, Amazônia Real, AzMina, GZH, Jornal do Commercio und Ponte Jornalismo joined since.
Trust Project was founded by Craig Newmark Philanthropies’ Trustworthy Journalism Initiative. Also funded by Google News Initiative, Facebook, Pierre Omidyar’s Democracy Fund and Knight Foundation. Works with Aos Fatos and Lupa.

Witness the absolute size of the protest in Brazil. Free speech will be saved. pic.twitter.com/HdoAEknkNm

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 7, 2024

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