The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) stated this Friday (10), after a meeting at Palácio do Planalto with ministers and members of the government, that all companies operating in Brazil need to respect the legislation in force in the country.
The statement is a response to Meta – controller of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads –, which announced the end of the fact-checking program on its platforms in the United States.
“[Tivemos uma] Meeting with government representatives to discuss the recent Target announcements and the implications in Brazil. Two decisions were made at this meeting. The first is a notification sent by AGU [Advocacia-Geral da União] for Meta to explain, within 72 hours, the changes in the fact-checking and fake news policy, which can affect children, teenagers and women, for example”, wrote Lula on his official account on X (formerly Twitter).
“The second is the creation of a federal government working group, with consultation with the Legislative, Judiciary and civil society, to monitor the developments of the measures, strengthening freedom of expression, without tolerating the violation of fundamental rights”, he continued the president.
“All companies operating in the country need to respect Brazilian legislation and jurisdiction”, concluded Lula.
The Goal will have a period of 72 hours to clarify the Brazilian government’s doubts about the change in content moderation policies. The notification establishing the deadline was presented this Friday by the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), informed Palácio do Planalto.
Continues after advertising
According to the Chief Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa (PT)the government is very concerned about the announcement that Meta will no longer control content. “This has a huge impact on Brazilian society. It impacts children when it comes to inappropriate content and child trafficking. It impacts public security, when it comes to information that concerns people’s safety, criminal practice,” he said.
The minister also mentioned the case of using artificial intelligence to produce a video with false information attributed to the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad (PT). According to Costa, videos like this even impact the country’s economy.
“People end up not being able to distinguish what is true from what is a lie. This ends up impacting the country, the nation, the people and the economy. We are talking about national sovereignty”, he emphasized.
Continues after advertising
working group
Faced with the situation, the government announced the creation of a working group involving ministries and the communications sector, in search of improving the Brazilian legal framework.
“We will seek dialogue with entities that represent the media in general, including the Brazilian press, seeking to maintain the fundamental principle of democracy, which is total freedom of expression. There cannot be a difference in treatment between a TV that operates in Brazil, subject to a set of regulations, and someone that has a gigantic reach [das redes sociais]”, he argued.
However, the minister highlighted, freedom of expression of opinion on any topic does not mean absence of responsibility for crimes committed.
Continues after advertising
AGU
The Union’s attorney general, Jorge Messias, said that Brazilian society will not be at the mercy of this type of policy that Meta is trying to implement. “Our concern at this moment is that the company will go public [para se manifestar claramente]as she was not transparent at any time.”
According to Messias, the AGU will file, today, a notification for Meta to explain to the Brazilian authorities what the company will do to protect children, teenagers, women and small traders, among others, who use the platform as a business model.
“There are a number of people who frequently use this platform and who will allegedly be very vulnerable to the new policy. We do not clearly know what the new policy is due to the lack of transparency of this company”, he argued, remembering that Brazil has very strict legislation to protect such audiences.
Continues after advertising
(With Agência Brasil)
