The Socialist Party asked the government on Thursday if it intended for the Santa Maria Local Health Unit (ULS) to repeal the order on insults to professionals on social media, criticizing the “disguised intention to embarrass” users.
In a question addressed to the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, which Lusa was able to reach, Socialist MPs João Paulo Correia and Eurydice Pereira ask for clarifications from the Regency regarding the ULS order in Santa Maria Threatening to initiate legal action against users who abuse health workers on social media.
The Socialists want to know whether the health minister was aware of this order, dated August 19 and reported on Wednesday, and if so, whether it “corresponds to any directives from the ministry or, more specifically, from the Executive Directorate of the National Security Service.”
They also ask: “Do you sympathize with its content, especially with regard to its compliance with constitutional provisions?”
The Socialists also want Ana Paula Martins to clarify whether she “intends to give directions towards the repeal of the order.”Especially with regard to the general and abstract nature that it imposes.”
In the PS’s opinion, the order “sets an arbitrary precedent, because it sets a general guideline that places the responsibility on the legal office not to pursue any criminal offenses identified by the administration or professionals who feel wronged, but rather to decide to be its own office, the investigating agent and whistleblower.
The Socialist Party recognizes that those who commit illegal acts that violate the rights of citizens and institutions “should be subject to instructions and sanctions if appropriate.”
but, For socialists it is “undeniable” that this “unique system shows an unconscious intention to embarrass.”considering that users “hardly fail to feel that their freedom of expression is restricted in circumstances they do not know or consider inappropriate,” which is “unacceptable under the rule of law.”
“It is therefore very important to understand the position of the Ministry of Health on this general and unique decision.”Justify.
The Local Health Unit (ULS) in Santa Maria will initiate legal action against people who insult health workers on social media, stating that what is at stake are insults that go beyond freedom of expression.
Santa Maria threatens lawsuits against users who criticize the hospital on social media
“The measure now announced aims to protect the professionals of ULS de Santa Maria and the institution itself from malicious external attacks, which undermine the good practices and the good name of its teams, disseminated by third parties on social media,” the institution explained on Wednesday, in a response sent to Lusa.
To Lusa, the ULS in Santa Maria explained that “these are offensive posts, and go beyond simple criticism, completely outside the legitimate channels for filing complaints by users, specifically through the Citizen’s Office.”
He stressed that “this measure does not affect the content published by each professional, individually, on social networks,” noting that the proposal came from the legal office, “taking into account recent external publications that affect the honor of professionals, and therefore also from the company’s institution itself.”
ULS de Santa Maria stressed that it “hopes not to have to use this legal mechanism against third parties”, stressing that it “will not hesitate at any time to defend the good reputation and ethical integrity of its professionals”.
The Ministry of Health, contacted by Lusa, declined to comment on the matter.
