A São Paulo court has issued a ruling against Seguidores Marketing Digital, ordering the company to cease providing fake followers, likes, and streams on platforms like Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
The IFPI, which represents the global recording industry, said the ruling marks the first under Operation Authentica, an initiative targeting the streaming fraud industry.
The São Paulo Public Attorney’s Office led the operation through its Consumer Protection Unit and Cyber Gaeco division, supported by industry groups APDIF and IFPI Latin America. Investigators have identified 38 local websites offering streaming fraud services.
Seguidores has been found liable for misleading advertising and consumer fraud while violating constitutional rights protections. The court has then ordered Seguidores to cease its fraudulent services, pay damages and suspend its domain names.
The company will face additional fines if it continues operations. Seguidores has filed an appeal challenging the ruling, the IFPI said.
“This is a clear warning to those profiting from manipulating the online music environment. Their actions mislead music fans and undermine legitimate artists.”
Victoria Oakley, IFPI
IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley said: “This is a clear warning to those profiting from manipulating the online music environment. Their actions mislead music fans and undermine legitimate artists.
“Today’s ruling sets a strong legal precedent, and we are grateful to the São Paulo Public Attorney’s Office for this successful operation. We will continue to work closely with authorities to tackle these fraudulent practices, and to help protect Brazil’s thriving music community.”
Paulo Rosa, President, Pro-Música Brasil, added: “The content of this ruling goes beyond the music streaming manipulation itself. It adds the defense of consumer rights to cases where artificial and inorganic means are used to boost content online.
“We applaud this decision and will continue to work closely with Brazilian authorities to protect the integrity of our legitimate music market.”
The ruling follows the launch of what Brazilian law enforcement described as the “largest-ever” operation to disrupt streaming fraud. The initiative, launched in April, targets JustAnotherPanel, a global organization that provides technical infrastructure to a large network of resellers that offer fake streams used in streaming manipulation.
“The content of this ruling goes beyond the music streaming manipulation itself. It adds the defense of consumer rights to cases where artificial and inorganic means are used to boost content online.”
Paulo Rosa, Pro-Música Brasil
At the time, the IFPI said Cyber Gaeco, the cybercrime unit of the prosecutor’s office in Sao Paulo, obtained a court order that blocked JustAnotherPanel in Brazil, and at least 43 local illegal services have been disrupted, and 1,131 resellers of streaming fraud services outside Brazil have been impacted.
The development marks the latest in the crackdown on streaming fraud in Brazil. In March, authorities in the country arrested and charged a man accused of uploading more than 400 fake tracks to Spotify, generating more than 28 million plays and earning the unnamed suspect roughly $65,000.
Authorities also alleged that the suspect had stolen 36 tracks from local composers through promotional WhatsApp groups.
Elsewhere in 2020, Brazilian authorities announced they had taken down 14 websites involved in streaming manipulation, and the following year, they announced they had shut down 10 streaming manipulation services, while another 20 stopped offering the services.
In another case in 2023, Brazilian law enforcement took down FileWarez, which IFPI described as the most popular illicit file-sharing site in the country, which at its peak counted 118,000 registered users.
In 2024, law enforcement’s Operation Redirect took down eight illegal online music services that were being used to distribute malware to users.
Authorities in Brazil have also been running an ongoing initiative called Operation 404, to take down copyright-infringing music services with the cooperation of trade groups like IFPI and Pro-Música. According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, as of September 2024, seven Operation 404 initiatives had been carried out, the most recent focusing on stream-ripping sites and apps in Brazil and Paraguay.
Music Business Worldwide
