A espetacularização do processo penal no Brasil

Abstract

This paper examines the spectacularization of the Brazilian criminal justice process through the lens of the society of the spectacle (Debord, 2003), investigating how the criminal justice system has been turned into a media product oriented toward audience appeal. The study begins by analyzing the so-called "Internet Court," in which social media act as parallel judging bodies that disregard the presumption of innocence and foster cancel culture, a phenomenon linked to the performance and fatigue society described by Han (2015). It then examines how media sensationalism produces "media verdicts" that anticipate the defendant's guilt, illustrated by the case of Lucélia Maria da Conceição Silva, in Parnaíba (PI). The backlash effect and media-driven penal populism (Gomes, 2014; Gutiérrez, 2006) are also discussed, showing how social fear is converted into political capital and pressures the judiciary to abandon its role as guarantor of fundamental rights. Finally, the paper addresses the true crime phenomenon and its ethical limits in narrating real crimes. As an intervention proposal, the creation of institutional communication protocols, ethics codes, and CNJ guidelines is suggested to preserve judicial impartiality. The study concludes that media spectacularization undermines the presumption of innocence and due process of law, requiring democratic maturity and media literacy to rebuild a rational public sphere.