Minister Luiz Fux, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), voted to hold digital platforms responsible for content published on the networks if the companies do not remove illicit posts immediately after notifying users. The minister is the rapporteur of one of the actions that discuss article 19 of the Marco Civil da Internet. Under the current rule, platforms are only held liable if they fail to comply with a court removal order.
For Fux, platforms must remove illegal content immediately, as soon as they are “unequivocally aware of illegal acts, whether evident or duly informed”.
In his vote, the minister also listed content considered “evidently illicit” that must be removed before any notification. He classified hate speech, crime, racism, pedophilia, incitement to violence, violent abolition of the rule of law and support for a coup d’état in this category. “In these specific hypotheses, there is a duty for provider companies to actively monitor with a view to efficiently preserving the democratic rule of law,” he stated.
In cases of posts that are classified as insult, slander and defamation, platforms must also act immediately after notifying the victim. According to its proposal, the platforms have the duty to provide “efficient, functional and confidential” means for the user to make this report.
Your vote also provides that, in cases of illicit posts promoted and monetized, the platform may be held responsible before any notification (judicial or extrajudicial). “It was paid, it is illegal and it is assumed that she knew, she does not even need to notify,” said the minister.
The trial was suspended following a request from Minister Luís Roberto Barroso. He left the session early because he has an appointment in Rome. Barroso said he will take the trial back to the plenary next Wednesday, the 18th.
