the company that owns , and , sent a response to the government notification () in a milder tone than that used by its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to talk about changes to its moderation policy.
Big tech does not use the term “censorship” and says, among other statements, that it is “committed to respecting human rights” and that part of the changes aim to reduce what it classifies as exaggerations in the application of rules, in addition to reducing errors.
Regarding the end of the checking program, she said that, at the moment, she is ending the program only in the United States, where she says she will test and improve the Community Notes system, “before beginning any expansion to other countries”.
Other announced changes, on the other hand, are already taking effect in Brazil. Among them are new rules on possible hate speech and less use of automated systems.
The document was (13), in response to the request for clarification sent by the (Attorney General of the Union) at the end of last week.
After receiving the response, the body stated in a note that it will hold a public hearing to discuss the issue next Thursday (16).
The AGU stated in a note that, in its understanding and that of ministries that work on the subject, “the current terms of use of the platforms, as well as the changes now reported by Meta, are not adequate to Brazilian legislation and are not sufficient to protect the rights fundamental aspects of citizenship”.
One of the policy updates made by Meta now allows, for example, .
When addressing the topic, and without citing specific changes, Meta said that the changes to its policies are restricted to updates to its “hateful conduct policy” and that it aims to “guarantee greater space for freedom of expression” . And they seek to “simplify” politics to allow for a “broader” debate on topics that are part of “current discussions in society”.
In his announcement last week, Zuckerberg had not made clear the extent of the changes to content policies, stating only that the company would ease restrictions on topics such as “immigration and gender”.
“Some aspects contained in the Target document cause serious concern in the AGU and federal government bodies”, says a note from the AGU. “Especially the confirmation of the change and adoption, in Brazil, of the Hateful Conduct Policy which, in all evidence, could represent fertile ground for violating legislation and constitutional precepts that protect fundamental rights of Brazilian citizens.”
The company also defended the change announced by Zuckeberg that foresees the restriction of the use of automated systems to detect policy violations. The company states that the announced changes “aim to simplify our systems to reduce exaggeration in the application of our policies and reduce errors”, the company tells AGU.
It says it previously used the automated system to track violations of all policies, but will now focus its use on dealing with “high-severity” violations, citing terrorism, child sexual exploitation, drugs, fraud and scams, as well as content that encourage suicide and self-harm.
In his announcement, Zuckerberg had only spoken of “illegal and highly serious violations”, without detailing what would be covered in these categories. According to him, the analysis of “low severity” cases will depend on user reports so that they can be analyzed.
In its statement to the AGU, the company also says that its existing reporting channels will remain available and that it will continue to “adopt measures against violative content in response.”
Meta also stated that the change to the checking program, which will be replaced by “community notes”, will currently only be applied in the United States, saying that it plans to “create, test and improve” the tool before expanding it.
Without giving any other concrete information on the matter, he said only that he hopes to publish more information about how they will work, including “plans for any transparency reports” about their use.
In the note released after analyzing the response, the AGU states that the public hearing next Thursday will be held jointly with the Justice and Public Security departments; Human Rights and Citizenship; and also Secom (Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency), now led by marketer Sidônio Palmeira.
Among the topics to be discussed are the effects of Meta’s new policy, the risks of replacing the checking program abroad and the measures to be adopted “with the aim of ensuring compliance with national legislation and the protection of rights”.
He also said that government bodies, civil society entities, experts, academics and representatives of fact-checking agencies will be invited.
One day before the government sent the request for information, CEO of Meta, saying that a citizen cannot believe that he is in a position to harm the sovereignty of a nation.
Lula’s statement was made in reaction to Zuckerberg’s stance, who said he will work with the president-elect of the United States, “to resist governments around the world that are persecuting American companies and pushing for more censorship.”
