It’s a false post citing the cancellation of Carnival in Rio

It is false that Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival of 2022 was cancelled, as stated by a publication circulating in a pocketnarista group on Facebook.

The content, verified by Projeto Comprova and later erased, displayed a montage with the photo of the Marquês de Sapucaí in the background, with the highlighted words: “Carnival 2022 is cancelled”. As of December 2021, when this verification was published, the event was held.

In the caption, the author thanked God for the measure, which was not determined by state or municipal administrations, as it was an internet rumor.

False, for Comprova, is any content invented or edited to change its original meaning and deliberately disclosed to spread a lie.

How do we check?

Initially, Comprova sent an email to Riotur (Tourism Company of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro), responsible for applying the tourism policies made by the city of Rio de Janeiro, including Carnival.

By telephone, the municipal administration confirmed to the report that, for the time being, Carnival festivities will be maintained in the region, although New Year’s festivities have been suspended.

The team then contacted the author of the post through Facebook, who had also shared the picture on his personal profile, but got no response.

The original post, in the group of supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro, was deleted from the platform. According to a Facebook warning that appears when we click on what would be the link in the post, the content may have been removed by the author or targeted to just a specific group.

Before it became inaccessible —whether by deletion or change of who could access the post—, there was an ad for content that violated the network’s guidelines next to the post, automatically added by Facebook, since the platform considered it as fake content .

Verification

carnival maintained

In an interview with Veja magazine on November 25 this year, the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes (PSD), stated that if there are favorable epidemiological conditions, Carnival will be kept in the city.

The interview took place after Europe announced the fourth wave of Covid-19 and, despite the uncertainties regarding the pandemic, the mayor was in favor of the realization. “If you don’t have the conditions, you won’t. I’m hoping you have it.”

The municipal secretary of Health, Daniel Soranz, informed in an interview to Jovem Pan radio on the same day that, at the time, there were no reasons for the Carnival to be postponed.

According to the press office of the company Riotur, the organization for the February 2022 event remains unchanged.

“Riotur informs that the organization for the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro in 2022 takes place normally, we are working to carry out an organized and safe event, we emphasize that so far the event schedule has not changed, thus, the post announcing the cancellation of the party is not real. However, if competent bodies linked to health understand that holding the event is a risk for the population in relation to Covid-19, it may be cancelled”, he highlighted.

The UOL news portal also verified the content of the content checked here, and concluded that it is fake content.

The publication went viral after Bolsonaro granted an interview to Rádio Sociedade da Bahia, also on November 25, stating that for him “there would be no Carnival in 2022”. At the time, he said that it is a decision that is up to the governors and mayors, whom he held responsible for holding the event in 2020. At the time, there were still no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Brazil. Subsequently, a survey led by Fiocruz found that the coronavirus was already circulating undetected in Europe and the Americas.

The article sought out the author of the publication and asked him about the origin of the image. However, it received no response until publication.

New Year’s Eve in Rio

The traditional New Year’s Eve party in Rio de Janeiro was canceled on December 4 by Mayor Eduardo Paes. The announcement took into account the guidelines of the scientific committee of the state, due to the omicron variant, of Covid-19.

On Twitter, Paes wrote that the most restrictive decision was adopted due to differences between the state and municipal scientific committees. “We will always stick with the most restrictive.” The mayor also stated that the municipality respects science.

“The city hall committee says it can. The state committee says no. So, it can’t. We’re going to cancel the official New Year’s Eve celebration in Rio that way,” he wrote.

Paes also said that he takes the decision “with sadness”, but that there is no possibility of organizing the celebration without the guarantee of all health authorities.

“If this is the command of the state (that’s not what the governor had been telling me), let’s accept it. I hope I can be in Copacabana hugging everyone in the transition from 22 to 23. It will be missed, but the important thing is that we continue vaccinating and saving lives,” said the mayor of Rio.

Surprise

In an interview given after a meeting with the secretaries on the same day December 4, 2021, Eduardo Paes repeated that the cancellation of New Year’s Eve was decided by recommendations of the state, claiming to have been surprised by the decision.

According to the mayor, in the coming days a conversation with the state governor, Cláudio Castro (PL), would be established to assess the evolution of the epidemiological scenario in Rio de Janeiro.

“I was surprised by the decision of the state’s scientific committee saying that it represented a risk. If I have a scientific committee supporting me, I have no problem [em fazer a celebração]. But if this committee understands it as risk, I will stick with the technical opinion that generates more restrictions.”

At the same time, he said that despite the cancellation, the city remains prepared to receive tourists. “With the low transmission rate, I find it difficult for us to have other restrictive measures. Vaccinated tourists will be very welcome in Rio de Janeiro.”

New Year’s Eve canceled

With the advance of the omicron variant and the lack of information about the effects that this new mutation of Covid-19 can cause, 20 capitals and the Federal District decided to cancel the holiday season.

So far, the events will not take place in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Natal, Recife, Fortaleza, Salvador, São Luís, Teresina, Aracaju, João Pessoa, Cuiabá, Campo Grande, Belém, Palmas, Vitória, Porto Alegre, Macapá, Maceio, Manaus and Florianópolis. The idea of ​​the cancellation is to avoid crowding at the turn of the year.

The governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha (MDB), also decided not to hold any event in Brasília.

Why do we investigate?

In its fourth phase, Comprova checks suspicious content that has gone viral about the pandemic, public policies of the federal government and elections.

The publication in question had 98,000 likes, 27,000 comments and 63,000 shares up to November 29th. In this case, disseminating false information about the cancellation of Carnival could harm the personal plans of those who depend on income from the event, or even those who have already scheduled a trip to the city.

Furthermore, even if the fake content does not explain the reason for the cancellation, it implies that it would have occurred because of the pandemic. Announcing a false epidemiological situation can cause public awareness and discredit later official news about health.

Comprova carried out checks on the Carnival previously and denied, for example, a publication that stated that the cancellation of the event would be subject only to the will of Bolsonaro, or even that the director-general of the WHO would have positioned itself against the Carnival of 2022.

False, for Comprova, is any content invented or edited to change its original meaning and deliberately disclosed to spread a lie.

Comprova performed this verification based on information available on December 7th of 2021.