Brazil Media Law Guide

BRAZIL MEDIA LAW GUIDE

Defamation and Privacy Law in Brazil

Last Updated – 28 May 2026

Contributors: Paula Mena Barreto (Partner), Leonardo Ribas (Partner) and Ricardo Caiado (Partner) – Campos Mello Advogados

The Brazilian Federal Constitution provides a very generic principle related to privacy, establishing that the intimacy, private life, honor/reputation and image of persons are inviolable, being assured the right to indemnity for the material or moral damage resulting from its violation (Article 5, X). On the other hand, it also establishes freedom of artistic and scientific expression and communication, which is free from prior censorship and/or restriction by any means (Article 5, IX).

The Brazilian Civil Code provides that the private life of natural persons is inviolable, and the judge can, if requested by an interested party, adopt the necessary measures to prevent any act contrary to this provision (Article 21).

The personality rights are also governed by the Civil Code, which are considered non-transferable and cannot be renounced, and their exercise may not be voluntarily limited with some specific exception provided for by law (Article 11).

Criminal Law

At the criminal level, the Brazilian Criminal Code sets forth three main crimes specifically against honor: (i) slander: false imputation of a crime to another person (Article 138); (ii) defamation: imputation of something offensive to someone’s social reputation (article 139); and (iii) injury: imputation of something offensive to someone’s dignity (Article 140).

There is no corporate criminal liability in Brazil for violation of honor. Therefore, corporations cannot be held criminally liable for crimes against the honor of others. Individuals who commit crimes against honor can be sanctioned with detention from 1 month to 2 years, depending on the specific crime, and a fine. The penalty may be increased in specific circumstances.

In the case of defamation, the penalty is increased if it is committed against (i) the President of Brazil or a Foreign Head of State; (ii) a public servant due to his/her public duties; and (iii) individuals over 60 years old or disabled. In the case of injury, the penalty can be increased in cases where it regards religion, age, or impairment.

The penalty for any crime against honor is tripled if the offense is committed or disseminated on social media and doubled if committed against a woman for reasons of her gender.

Injury related to race, skin color, ethnicity or origin was recently equated with the crime of racism, which carries more severe penalties and is not subject to statute of limitation and unbailable.

Crimes against honor are of private interest in Brazil, so only the victims are entitled to file a criminal complaint to have the facts prosecutes in Court. Corporations may file criminal complaints for defamation because they have a reputation which is considered material honor for criminal purposes. The victim of a crime against the honor has 6 months to file a criminal complaint as of the date he/she becomes aware of the author of the offense.

An offensive allegation is enough to constitute defamation, regardless of whether it is true. The truth defense is only accepted in Brazil when the victim of the defamation is a public servant, and the offensive allegations are related to his/her public duties. Unfavourable opinions of literary, artistic, or scientific criticism do not constitute defamation as a general rule, unless there is unequivocal intention to insult or defame. The defendant may retract the offense before the verdict is delivered. In such case, the penalty will not apply.

Civil Law

From a civil standpoint, it is possible to demand the cessation of a threat or violation of personality rights and to seek compensation for losses and damages, without prejudice to other sanctions provided for by Law.

A statement that infringes an individual’s personality rights—such as the rights to privacy, image, or honor/reputation – may entitle the offended person to claim damages and/or injunctive reliefs to cease it. As a general rule, an offence could give basis to claim moral damages and also material damages.

Since this is considered a non-contractual claim, the victim of the defamation must file the suit seeking for damages within 3 years  from the date the wrongful act became known to them, in accordance with the actio nata theory.

The courts generally hold that the statute of limitations initial term is the date in which the claimant becomes aware of the wrongful act, in line with the jurisprudence of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). However, while the actio nata theory serves as a general rule in Brazilian civil liability, it is not absolute and must be applied in light of the nature of the claim, applicable statutory provisions, and potentially divergent precedents from state courts.

In this suit, the claimant must prove that the respondent committed an injury to the right of the personality. Moral damages, however, do not necessarily require proof, as they are most likely to be considered implied by the act itself (in re ipsa), according to Brazilian courts.

Defence arguments to moral damages claims in connection with injuries to personality rights usually involve allegations that no personality rights were violated and that the claimant merely disagreed with factual statements or subjective opinions, which lacked any qualifying content directly affecting personality´s rights. It is also common to assert that no moral/immaterial damages have occurred.

Every civil trial in Brazil is performed by judges (not juries), who are not bound by statutory, legal or in any other way limited when setting the amount of compensation for moral damages. The figures awarded will depend on the circumstances of the concrete case. Particulary, judge will consider the economic situation of both parties and the severity of the offense and its practical consequences, which aim to inhibit the offender from reoffending. Brazilian law does not formally recognize punitive damages rule, but in some cases the Court also considers this approach to set the compensation.

In conclusion, Brazilian Law is protective of personality rights—such as privacy, image, and honor/reputation— and treats them as inalienable and unwaivable. While freedom of expression is constitutionally safeguarded, it  is limited by individual personality rights.

Civil liability for defamation or violation of privacy is assessed case by case, with courts empowered to grant injunctive relief and award moral and material damages. Although punitive damages are not formally recognized, courts may consider deterrent effects in quantifying compensation. The legal framework thus reflects a nuanced balance between expressive freedoms and the inviolability of the individual’s moral and existential sphere.

Defamation and privacy under the criminal Law in Brazil and the harm to the personality rights, including the harm of the honor/reputation of someone, in the same direction, will also be ruled on a case-by-case basis depending on the concrete case and facts presented by the affected person.

Data protection rules in Brazil

From a data protection perspective, Brazil has enacted its first data protection law through Federal Law no. 13,709/2018 (Brazilian General Data Protection Law or “LGPD”), published on August 15, 2018, mainly inspired by the provisions of the General Protection Regulation – GDPR, which is applicable as of May 25th, 2018 in all member states to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe.

The LGPD applies to any processing operation with personal data carried out by a natural person or a legal entity of public or private law, irrespective of the means, the country in which its headquarter is located or the country where the data are located, provided that: (i) the processing operation is carried out in the national territory; (ii) the purpose of the processing activity is to offer or provide goods or services or the processing of data of individuals located in the national territory; or (iii) the personal data being processed were collected in the national territory.

The LGPD does not apply to the processing of personal data that (i) is done by a natural person exclusively for private and non-economic purposes; (ii) is done exclusively: a) for journalistic and artistic purposes; or b) academic purposes; (iii) is done exclusively for purposes of: a) public safety; b) national defense; c) state security; or d) activities of investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses; or (iv) have their origin outside the national territory and are not the purpose of communication, purpose of shared data use with Brazilian processing agents or not the purpose of international transfer of data with another country that is not the country of origin (provided that the country of origin provides a level of personal data protection adequate to that established in the law).

The expression “personal data” has a broad definition as it is considered any data or information related to an identified or identifiable individual (called “data subject”), with “sensitive personal data” being data about racial or ethnic background, religious belief, political opinion, membership labor unions or religious, philosophical or political organizations, as well as referring to the health or sexual life, genetic or biometric data. The “processing activity” is a broad concept and it is considered to be all operations carried out with personal data, such as collection, production, reception, classification, utilization, access, reproduction, transmission, distribution, processing, filing, storage, elimination, evaluation, control, modification, communication, transfer, diffusion or extraction of data or information.

Any processing activity must rely on the proper legal basis provided by the law, such as (i) with consent; (ii) to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation of the controller; (ix) in the legitimate interests of the controller or third parties; among others.

Important principles must also be observed in the processing activity, such as (i) purposes, where the processing must be carried out for specific and legitimate purposes, explicitly and informed to the data subject, without the possibility of subsequent processing in a form incompatible with these purposes; (ii) adequacy, which is the compatibility of the processing with the purposes reported to the data subject; (iii) need, imposing the limitation of treatment only to the extent necessary to achieve the processing purposes; (iv) free access, where it is guaranteed that the data subjects can consult, easily and at no cost, the form and time frame of the processing, as well as the integrity of their data; (v) quality of the data, which is the guarantee of the precision, clarity, relevance and currency of the data; (vi) transparency, which is the guarantee of clear information that is easily accessible by the data subjects; (vii) security, involving the use of technical and administrative measures to protect the data from access by unauthorized parties and misuse; (viii) prevention, which is the adoption of measures to prevent the occurrence of damages due to treatment of personal data; (ix) non-discrimination, about the impossibility of processing for discrimination, illicit or abusive purposes; and (x) accountability, which is the demonstration of effective means to observe and prove compliance with the rules on protection of personal data.

Contributors: Paula Mena Barreto, Leonardo Ribas and Ricardo Caiado

v. Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek
1455 – 12º andar – Vila Nova Conceição
São Paulo – SP, 04543-011
Brazil

The material in this Guide is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice.