Marcos Pitombo wins fake news lawsuit against influencer

The Justice of Rio de Janeiro sentenced digital influencer Erlan Martins dos Santos to pay R$ 15 thousand in compensation to actor Marcos Pitombo, 40, for spreading fake news on the Gato Intruso profile, on Instagram, and on a YouTube channel. He will also have to pay legal fees and will no longer be able to speak on the matter.

Last year, Santos posted videos and photos on social media and YouTube saying that Pitombo would have been the pivot of the separation of influencer Gabriela Pugliesi, 37, and Erasmo Viana, 37, with whom he would have an affective involvement. The actor denied the relationship and went to court asking for the exclusion of the rumor.

In the process, the actor alleges that the defendant published a photo of him, Viana and a third with a caption in a tone of debauchery and irony. According to him, Santos also published a video on YouTube commenting on the couple’s separation with the headline saying that he would have been the pivot of the separation.

“The profile used fake news to create factoids, generate clicks and monetize the slanderous pseudo information,” said the artist’s press office in February last year.

The actor’s defense also claimed in the lawsuit that the influencer did not delete the video and changed the privacy of the publication from public to private mode, which does not change the fact that the video remains available and can be released by the defendant at any time.

After spreading the fake news about the actor, the defendant published a video days later saying that he received notification from the justice and that he became aware of the rumors through the Gato Intruso profile. According to the actor’s defense, Santos continued talking about the rumor and that Pitombo would be hiding his sexual orientation, demonstrating a lack of commitment to journalism.

In his defense, Santos did not deny that he made the publications, but claimed that he did not intend to harm Pitombo. He said that he works “with the artistic milieu”, which is “his livelihood”, which justifies his right to publish about the facts and that it is a constitutional right to express his opinion.