where it was published: Twitter.
Completion of Proof: It is misleading that Lula has said that MEI is not employment and that self-employed people are not workers. Contrary to what publications shared on Twitter claim, the PT questioned in the debate the new methodology adopted from January 2020 by the federal government in the calculations of formal jobs of the General Register of Employed and Unemployed (Caged).
Lula’s speech was in response to Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) questioning about what PT thought of the current government’s employment generation numbers. “The first thing people have to understand is that they changed the logic of measuring employment, they put MEI as if it were a job, they put informal workers as if they were a job. In my time, the measurement of employment was a formal contract. That’s what it was that we… Not now. Now they invented the occasional work, informal work, the MEI. I want to know general employment with a formal contract, registered employment”, said Lula. The speech excerpt can be found at G1 portal.
THE methodology used by the federal government in Caged has changed since 2020. With the change, the calculation of the new Caged started to consider other sources of information. In addition to the monthly survey with employers, the system also pulls data from eSocial and employerWeb (system in which unemployment insurance claims are registered). The e-Social includes jobs with temporary and intermittent links.
According to experts heard by the G1, the change impacted the results because the declaration of temporary links to the Caged search is optional – but the insertion in eSocial is mandatory. The new Caged therefore yields greater results when considering these bindings.
In addition to temporary links, the Caged also incorporates the MEIscivil servants and public servants (federal, state, district or municipal), freelancers, directors with no employment relationship, independent union leaders, service providers, politicians (elective positions), interns, domestic workers, cooperative members or workers with a fixed-term contract determined.
The PT’s press office reported that Lula created the MEI in his government, to “encourage millions of fighters”. The party maintains that the former president never criticized the category, but only denounced the change in methodology that the current government uses “to mask unemployment in the country”. Authored by Deputy Antônio Carlos Mendes Thame (PSDB-SP), Complementary Law nº 128, which amends the rules of the General Law for Micro and Small Enterprises (Complementary Law nº 123/06) and creates the figure of the MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur) was sanctioned in 2008 by the then President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
For Comprova, misleading it is content taken from the original context and used in another so that its meaning is altered; that uses inaccurate data or that leads to an interpretation different from the author’s intention; content that confuses, with or without the deliberate intent to cause harm.
Scope of publication: Comprova investigates suspicious content with the greatest reach on social networks. Together, the two publications totaled more than 12,500 interactions on Twitter in about 10 hours.
What does the publisher say?: Comprova sent an email to Deputy Gil Diniz’s office, but received no response. The account of the other Twitter user who posted the piece of disinformation is blocked from sending direct messages and it was not possible to locate her on other social networks.
How do we check: First, a Google search was performed for the terms “Globo debate”, “Lula” and “MEI”. The return was G1 portal link with excerpts from the debate held on Friday (28) between the presidential candidates. Information was also sought in the Ministry of Labor and Welfare website about the changes made to the Caged methodology.
why do we investigate: Comprova investigates suspicious content that goes viral on social media about presidential elections, public policies of the federal government and the pandemic. The team focuses on viral publications, which have had great reach on social media and can confuse the population.
In the context of the elections in Brazil, a lot of disinformation content involving the two presidential candidates, Bolsonaro and Lula, is circulating, harming the voter’s choice, which must be made based on true information. Comprova collaborates to validate the veracity of information and allow voters to make the best choice at the polls, without being influenced by misinformation.
Other checks on the topic: The Comprova Project has already shown that Lula’s speech was taken out of context to suggest mockery of those who believe in the promise of eating picanha. It has also been proven that, contrary to what a video claims, Lula did not tell the Chinese channel that he is going to establish a dictatorship in Brazil, Besides being fake montage of Lula declaring vote for Bolsonaro.
This weekend, the Comprova team joined 6 other fact-checking initiatives in Brazil to jointly verify election misinformation. The partnership brings together AFP, Aos Fatos, Boatos.org, Comprova, E-Farsas, Fato ou Fake and Lupa.
Investigated by: JC Online and O Estado de S. Paulo. Verified by: A Gazeta, Imirante.com, SBT, SBT News, Folha de S. Paulo, CBN Cuiabá and Plural.
Source: CNN Brasil
