Brazil court suspends Renan Santos campaign, freezes R$3.3 million

Brazil's top electoral court, the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, suspended Renan Santos's digital campaign on August 31. The court froze R$3.3 million in public funds, which was roughly $640,000 USD. The order halted new disbursements from Brazil's Special Campaign Financing Fund. Justice Dias Toffoli barred Santos and running mate Aroldo Medina from radio, television, and podcast debates. Toffoli ruled that 16 campaign social media profiles could not carry paid political ads. The profiles were declared 12 days after the campaign's registration filing. The order required platforms to remove the 16 profiles from recommendation algorithms or pay R$10,000 per hour for each profile. Violations carried a R$50,000 fine per advertisement or debate appearance. Officially declared digital campaign accounts were excluded from recommendation algorithms during the race. Missão's undeclared profiles remained eligible for recommendations. Toffoli said one account with 2.4 million followers continued appearing in suggested-profile feeds alongside other candidates. Santos made his national Bitcoin reserve pledge on August 13 at Blockchain Rio 2026. Santos also promised to make Rio de Janeiro crypto friendly and to scrap the Tax on Financial Operations. Santos called the ruling censorship. Santos said his lawyers would seek an injunction from TSE president Nunes Marques. Street campaigning continued after the order. Santos's originally registered website and X account remained active. The ruling did not remove Santos's candidacy. Missão, which formed in 2025, was also fielding 57 congressional candidates. Brazilians vote on October 4.