The event will debate moderation policies on social media and was motivated after Mark Zuckerberg announced the end of content inspection in the United States
The AGU (Attorney General of the Union) will hold a public hearing on Wednesday (22 January 2025) to discuss recent changes to the like fact-checking by Community Notes (similar to X). After being postponed, the event should feature representatives from Meta, Google, X, government bodies and researchers in the field.
The debates will be from 2pm to 6pm and recorded to be made available later on the AGU website. This information and the topics to be discussed were published in a notice on the subject. Here is it (PDF – 485 MB).
Here are the topics that should be covered:
- hateful conduct on digital platforms;
- mitigating the circulation of criminal and illicit content;
- social impact and professional journalism with the eventual end of checking programs;
- reporting channel on combating misinformation and rights violations;
- transparency reports on promoting and protecting rights and combating disinformation;
- impact of changes in content moderation on historically marginalized groups, such as women, LGBTQIA+ people, immigrants and people with disabilities.
The new model adopted by Meta, replacing fact checking, will initially be applied in the United States and then expanded to other countries.
The meeting is organized by AGU, headed by Jorge Messias, together with the ministries of , of and with (Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency).
The full list of guests has not yet been released by AGU, it will be released this Monday (20 January 2025). THE Poder360 found that there will be representatives from platforms such as Meta itself, X and Google.
Other entities that must attend are checking agencies such as Lupa and Aosfactos. On the journalism side, representatives from Abraji (Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism) and Fenaj (National Federation of Journalists) will attend.
META’S RESPONSE TO THE GOVERNMENT
The hearing takes place after on Monday (13 January) to an extrajudicial notification from the Brazilian government asking for explanations about the effects of ending the fact-checking program.
The new model adopted by Meta –owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp–replacing fact checking, will initially be applied in the United States and then expanded to other countries.
In the document, the company stated that the measure was taken to “reduce exaggeration in the application of policies” of the platform. It will still be up to the company to delete posts containing misinformation when they present a risk of bodily harm or interference in political processes.
Another change in big tech policy is related to the Hateful Conduct Policy, which, according to Meta,to “guarantee greater space for freedom of expression”. Read thedocument (PDF – 53 kB).
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SAYS
The AGU and the bodies involved expressed concern about the new terms adopted by Meta. They consider that they may pose risks to the protection of fundamental rights in the country.
According to the note, the changes contradict commitments made by the company during discussions about the no (Supreme Federal Court), when Meta stated that its governance policies were sufficient to protect users’ rights.
“Confirmation of the change and adoption, in Brazil, of the Hateful Conduct Policy which, in all evidence, could represent fertile ground for violation of legislation and constitutional precepts that protect fundamental rights of Brazilian citizens”says in a note.
