The Fundamental Right to Legitimate Information and the Right Not to be Deceived or Manipulated by Government Propaganda

Abstract

The right to information, save-guarded by Art 5 of the Brazilian Constitution, and the propaganda by public organs are analyzed. As social communication, propaganda is characterized by persuasion so that habits and beliefs could be handled towards a determined direction. Propaganda by public organs is classified as political propaganda since it has a direct relationship to state power. The possibility of government propaganda is delimited by Art 37 §1 of the same Constitution. The right of information extends to information produced by the government, foregrounded on persuasion. On the other hand, persuasion may damage the citizens with regard to the information received from the public organs and directly affects their rights in participating in the political life, or rather, their politic rights. The right to information, derived from the Constitution, and the possibility of the use of persuasion in the propaganda of the public organs, are acknowledged not only as the right to receive information, but as the right to receive legitimate information. The right not to be deceived or manipulated by state propaganda is a consequence.