The minister of the (Supreme Federal Court) stated this Thursday (28) that the coup attacks on January 8, 2023 demonstrated the failure of the self-regulation system for social media platforms.
“January 8th demonstrated the total failure of the self-regulation system of all networks, of all big techs. Bankruptcy because everything was organized by the networks. Or a large part by the networks”, said Moraes.
The judge asked to speak after hearing the oral arguments on the processes that deal with excerpts from the trial at the STF that evaluates third-party content.
“I listened carefully, with great respect, to all the oral arguments. Now, it is factually, this is not theory, it is not doctrine, it is factually impossible to defend, after January 8th, that the self-regulation system works”, he stated .
Moraes cited the call “”, a term used, according to the Federal Police, to invite and organize transportation, in addition to sharing coordinates and instructions for the invasion of public buildings.
“People making videos, posting them on social media, calling on more people to destroy. And social media didn’t remove anything. Why? Because it was like on top of like, business system, monetization.”
The trial that began on Wednesday (27) continued this Thursday, and Moraes made the statements shortly after support from the Union’s attorney general, Jorge Messias.
The AGU defended the unconstitutionality of article 19 of the Marco Civil da Internet, which provides for the need for a court decision to remove content from the Internet. According to the excerpt, social media platforms are only held responsible for third-party content if they fail to comply with court orders.
“The fact is that the immunity brought by article 19 of the Marco Civil da Internet, an immunity that has been used by digital platforms, for absolutely negligent conduct, has led to a deficit in our democratic quality”, said Messias.
The attorney general also recalled the attacks of January last year. “I had, on January 8th, to provoke, your excellency, Minister Alexandre, asking for the removal of various content from the digital platforms that broadcast live, and many of which were monetized, the invasion of this plenary. The invasion of the National Congress, the invasion of the Palácio do Planalto. Many were monetized and the contents were only effectively removed following the order of your excellency, Minister Alexandre”, he said.
Messias stated that Brazil is experiencing a moment of infodemic, an expression used to talk about a flood of information in the media, especially social networks.
“An ecosystem of disinformation that, in addition to bringing economic damage, as we saw here, brings damage to the quality of our democracy,” said Messias.
