{"id":4970,"date":"2026-02-06T13:19:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T16:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.djamilaribeiro.com.br\/?p=4970"},"modified":"2026-02-06T14:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:30:19","slug":"sao-paulo-court-orders-member-of-a-far-right-group-to-pay-damages-to-djamila-ribeiro-over-online-insults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.djamilaribeiro.com.br\/en\/sao-paulo-court-orders-member-of-a-far-right-group-to-pay-damages-to-djamila-ribeiro-over-online-insults\/","title":{"rendered":"S\u00e3o Paulo court orders member of a far-right group to pay damages to Djamila Ribeiro over online insults"},"content":{"rendered":"

Djamila Ribeiro won an important court victory: last Wednesday, the 4th, the S\u00e3o Paulo Court of Justice (Tribunal de Justi\u00e7a de S\u00e3o Paulo, TJSP)<\/strong>, partially granting an appeal, found that a post by Renan Antonio Ferreira Santos<\/strong> on X (formerly Twitter)<\/strong> went beyond legitimate public debate and violated personal rights, setting R$ 30,000<\/strong> in compensation for moral damages.<\/p>\n

In a decision written by appellate judge Lucilia Alcione Prata<\/strong>, the court also ordered the removal of the content<\/strong>, a public retraction<\/strong>, and an obligation to refrain from further posts<\/strong> that repeat or allude to the same attack, under penalty of a fine.<\/p>\n

The ruling can still be appealed\u2014and Djamila, while celebrating the outcome, made a point of stating that publicly. Even so, the judgment already establishes a symbolic and legal benchmark: the court states plainly that freedom of expression does not authorize personal disqualification, defamation, or stigmatization\u2014especially when the attack relies on racial and gender stereotypes amplified by the digital environment.<\/p>\n

What prompted the lawsuit<\/h3>\n

The case concerns a post attributed to the defendant\u2014whose authorship, according to the decision itself, is undisputed\u2014in which Djamila is called a \u201cjeca\u201d and linked to an alleged \u201cagenda\u201d aligned with \u201corganized crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

The TJSP framed the issue directly: it was not about ideological disagreement, but whether the post crossed constitutional limits on criticism and became an attack on honor, image, and reputation.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeca\u201d is not neutral: the decision treats the insult as a mechanism of belittlement<\/h3>\n

One of the most striking parts of the ruling is its reading of the term \u201cjeca.\u201d The court rejects the idea that it is a harmless word or mere irony. On the contrary:<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe expression \u2018jeca,\u2019 far from being semantically neutral, carries a strong symbolic and pejorative charge. In the Brazilian social imagination, it evokes the character \u2018Jeca Tatu,\u2019 described in Monteiro Lobato\u2019s work as a mixed-race (\u2018caboclo\u2019) figure associated with backwardness, ignorance, and social marginalization, portrayed as lazy and indolent. Its use, in the context of the post, aims to reduce and belittle the plaintiff by comparing her to the \u2018JECA\u2019 and diminishing her intellectual and social capacity. When directed at a Black woman\u2014an intellectual, writer, and a leading reference in the anti-racist struggle\u2014the language used reinforces structural stigmas, reproducing delegitimizing mechanisms historically employed to silence female and Black voices in the public sphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The court also treats as even more serious the claim that \u201cher agenda is the same as organized crime,\u201d finding that it goes beyond opinion and suggests ethical and political alignment with criminal practices\u2014potentially damaging reputation and misleading the public.<\/p>\n

Race and gender perspective: CNJ guidance in the reasoning<\/h3>\n

The opinion notes that the analysis \u201crequires\u201d a race- and gender-sensitive approach, citing Resolution No. 492\/2023 and Resolution No. 598\/2024<\/strong> issued by Brazil\u2019s National Council of Justice (Conselho Nacional de Justi\u00e7a, CNJ)<\/strong>\u2014the body that oversees administrative and policy guidelines for the Brazilian judiciary. These resolutions instruct courts to recognize discriminatory stereotypes and discursive practices even when disguised as \u201cformal neutrality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court recognizes that certain forms of speech produce disproportionate harm to Black women, especially when they operate through belittlement and symbolic criminalization. It also notes that the internet amplifies the damage, treating the digital environment as an accelerator of violence that spreads offenses and triggers third-party attacks.<\/p>\n

The judge further notes that the post generated subsequent comments containing racist and misogynistic attacks, reinforcing the argument that social networks increase the harmful potential of such content.<\/p>\n

Compensation, retraction, and removal: what the TJSP ordered<\/h3>\n

In the operative part of the ruling, the court set R$ 30,000.00<\/strong> in moral damages, noting monetary adjustment from the date of publication of the decision and interest from the harmful act (the post).<\/p>\n

Beyond the amount, it ordered: removal of the offensive post; an explicit retraction on the defendant\u2019s X profile regarding the message that called Djamila \u201cstupid,\u201d \u201cjeca,\u201d and linked her to \u201corganized crime\u201d; and an obligation to refrain from new posts that repeat or allude to the same content, with a fine per publication.<\/p>\n

Djamila said that once the decision becomes final and payment is made, the money will go to the Instituto Feminismos Plurais (Feminismos Plurais Institute)<\/strong>, which supports women in situations of social vulnerability. The victory does not end the struggle. But it leaves a record: honor is not vanity\u2014it is a condition of citizenship.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I will go to sleep happy. Today, a Black woman had her voice respected by the justice system. My name is Djamila Ribeiro and, for my mother, for my grandmother, and for all the women who are disrespected every day in this country, I claim my right and my honor,\u201d Djamila wrote on Instagram. See:<\/p>\n

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Um post compartilhado por Djamila Ribeiro (@djamilaribeiro1)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n