Brazil prosecutor wants probe of 'hate' messages

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Brazil prosecutor wants probe of 'hate' messages
By Stan Lehman
Associated Press / November 4, 2010

SAO PAULO—A wave of alleged hate messages posted on Twitter immediately after Brazil's presidential elections must be investigated, a federal prosecutor said Thursday.

Janice Ascari said she has asked that law intern Mayara Petruso of Sao Paulo and others be investigated for allegedly using Twitter to incite prejudice and discrimination against people from Brazil's impoverished northeast.

Ascari said that Petruso had posted messages asking people to kill northeastern Brazilians in reprisal for Dilma Rousseff's victory in Sunday's presidential election.

Rousseff enjoys wide support in the northeast and won a majority of the votes there.

While no killings are known to have taken place because of the messages, the postings "constitute a form of hate crime because they foster discrimination and prejudice and call for the killing of a specific group of people," Ascari said.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2010/11/04/brazil_prosecutor_wants_probe_of_hate_messages/