The Attorney General’s Office (AGU) announced that the public hearing on the effects of new Meta policies will take place next Monday (22).
“The objective of the hearing is to collect subsidies and contributions from civil society, the academic community, digital platforms, checking agencies and public and private institutions on the topic, especially with regard to the changes announced by the digital platform Meta (parent company of Facebook, Instagram , Threads and Whatsapp) in its content moderation policy”, stated the institution in a press release released this Friday (17).
The event will be held in the auditorium of the Escola Superior da AGU, in Brasília, from 2pm to 6pm. The definitive program and list of guests have not yet been made available.
Also according to the AGU, the hearing will have the support of members of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship, the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic and the Ministry of Finance.
The notice, published in an extra edition of the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU), informs that participants must express their views on the following subjects:
- Hateful conduct policy for digital platforms;
- measures to mitigate the circulation of criminal and illicit content in
digital platforms; - social impact and sustainability of professional journalism with eventual
end in Brazil of fact-checking programs and replacement by other methodologies,
such as “community notes”; - improvement of the reporting channel on combating
disinformation and violations of fundamental rights; - need for transparent reporting on the promotion and protection of
fundamental rights and combating disinformation; and - impact of changes to content moderation on groups
historically marginalized people, such as women, LGBTQIA+ people, immigrants and people
with disabilities, in light of the Brazilian legal-constitutional regime of equality, of not
discrimination, freedom of expression and dignity of the human person, in line with
with the principles and norms of International Human Rights Law, notably
the commitments assumed by Brazil within the scope of the Inter-American System and the
of the United Nations, ensuring full protection and combating practices
discrimination in digital environments.
On Monday (13), explanations were given about the effects of the closure of the company’s fact-checking program on social media.
Goal Changes
The company announced, on January 7, new guidelines to guarantee more “freedom of expression” on social networks.
Among the actions is the reduction of filters and content moderation, in addition to the end of checking facts (and misinformation) disseminated by users.
The platform’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, also announced his intention to work with Donald Trump’s government against actions by governments in those countries that target US companies and that advocate “more censorship”.
