Brazil’s Supreme Court Overturns Censorship of ‘Porta dos Fundos’ Christmas Special

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Thursday night, January 9th, the presiding justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Dias Toffoli, suspended the decision of the appellate court in Rio de Janeiro that had censored the ‘Porta dos Fundos’ Christmas Special production.

Netflix, which broadcasts the humorous special, appealed to the Supreme Court (STF) against the decision of the appellate court Judge Benedicto Abicair, alleging that it disregarded the  Court’s previous decisions by imposing “unconstitutional restrictions on freedom of expression, creation and artistic development”.

The rapporteur of the appeal is Justice Gilmar Mendes, but as the STF is in recess, Netlix’s injunction petition was examined by Toffoli.

The ‘Porta dos Fundos’ Special portrays a gay Jesus (Gregorio Duvivier, Folha columnist) who relates to Orlando (Fábio Porchat). There are several lawsuits against Netflix brought by religious leaders who claim to feel offended.

Judge Abicair censored the program at the request of the Don Bosco Center for Faith and Culture Association, for whom the special violated the faith, honor, and dignity of millions of Brazilian Catholics, exceeding the limits of freedom of expression provided for in the Constitution.

Below is a promotional video of the Centro Dom Bosco, which wants to ban the Christmas Special from the Netflix list:

According to Netflix, in previous decisions, the Supreme Court established three pillars that should guide the judiciary in conflicts of this nature. These are:

1) freedom of expression has preference over other fundamental rights that collide with it;

2) any form of censorship of a political, ideological and artistic nature is forbidden; and

3) the State cannot set any conditions and restrictions related to the exercise of freedom of expression other than those expressly provided for in the Constitution itself.

Among Judge Abicairar’s arguments to censor the special is that the suspension of the show is more appropriate and beneficial “not only for the Christian community but for Brazilian society, mostly Christian”.

Conversely, Netflix argues that the fundamental right to freedom of expression does not necessarily lend itself to the protection of opinions that are the object of agreement of a majority group in society.

“The mere circumstance that the majority of the Brazilian population is Christian is not sufficient grounds to suspend the exhibition of an artistic content that bothers this majority group. Moreover, the audiovisual work itself does not state anything. It uses humor and obviously fictional elements to present a view on aspects of human sexuality,” says the company.