The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) unanimously denied an appeal by businessman Luciano Hang, owner of Havan, in a case against Folha de S.Paulo and reporter Patrícia Campos Mello. The ruling upholds the Santa Catarina Court of Justice's decision, which rejected a damages claim linked to a 2018 report on mass WhatsApp messages during the elections.
In a session concluded on Monday, February 9, 2026, the Fourth Chamber of the STJ rejected Luciano Hang's appeal by a 5-0 vote. The case concerns a Folha report published on October 18, 2018, titled 'Businessmen fund anti-PT campaign via WhatsApp.' The article revealed the purchase of mass message blasts against candidate Fernando Haddad (PT) in the final stretch of the 2018 presidential runoff, where he faced Jair Bolsonaro (PSL).
In 2020, Judge Gilberto Gomes de Oliveira Júnior of the Civil Court in Brusque, Santa Catarina, initially sentenced Folha and reporter Patrícia Campos Mello to pay R$ 100,000 in moral damages, citing offense to Hang's and Havan's honor. Hang had sought R$ 2 million in compensation.
However, the Santa Catarina Court of Justice (TJ-SC) overturned the ruling, finding that the report attributed the action to the company, not Hang personally, and that no harm to Havan was proven. The STJ's Fourth Chamber, with rapporteur Minister João Otávio de Noronha, upheld this view, stating that revisiting the decision would require reexamining evidence, which is not permitted at this stage.
Hang's lawyers did not respond to inquiries. Folha's lawyer, Taís Gasparian, stated: 'The press and the journalist should not be condemned to pay compensation for disclosing the truth. There is great discomfort when the press sheds light on matters some prefer to keep in the shadows, but that is precisely the press's role. It is a legitimate, legal, and essential activity for all citizens.'
The ruling bolsters protections for investigative journalism in election coverage.
