The Federal Attorney General’s Office had given Mark Zuckerberg’s company until midnight last Monday (13) to explain itself about the end of the fact-checking system.
A big tech owner of the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms, sent a response last Monday night (13) to the notification from the Attorney General’s Office (AGU). The federal agency had given until midnight on Monday for Mark Zuckerberg’s company to explain the end of the fact-checking system. The AGU also demanded that Meta clarify what measures will be adopted to combat crimes such as gender-based violence, racism and homophobia on social media in Brazil. In the early hours of this Tuesday (14), the AGU press office informed that Meta’s response had arrived and that a technical meeting was called to analyze the demonstration later this Tuesday. According to the AGU, representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Human Rights and the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic should participate in the meeting.
“Only after this analysis, the AGU, together with the other bodies, will comment on the next steps in relation to the matter and make the content of the statement public”, informed the Attorney General of the Union in a note. On Friday (10), the AGU sent the notification to Mark Zuckerberg’s conglomerate. The decision came after a meeting between the Union’s attorney general, Jorge Messias, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and other members of the government. The meeting discussed the company’s decision and the general picture of social networks in Brazil. The movement of the president’s government was a response to the announcement made by reporting that moderation of content reported as harmful will only be done when indicated by users. Furthermore, social networks will start displaying more political content. Meta’s action was a nod to the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.
In the notification, the AGU asked Meta to clarify whether any specific channel would be created to register reports of violations of fundamental rights. The ministry also questioned whether there will be disclosure of transparency reports on fact-checking carried out by users themselves. When he announced content moderation, the billionaire criticized regulations in different countries. He accused Latin America of having “secret courts” that silently order the removal of content. Even without mentioning Brazil, the statement was received as a message by the Secretary of Digital Policies of the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency (Secom), João Brant.
Shortly after Zuckerberg’s announcement, Messias called the company’s stance an “airport nonsense” due to the lack of clarity in the new guidelines. “Brazilian society will not be at the mercy of this type of policy,” he stated. For the Union’s attorney general, Planalto’s priority is to guarantee the protection of children, adolescents and vulnerable populations.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
Posted by Victor Oliveira
