Authorities discussed moderation policies for content published on social media in Brazil
The (Advocacia Geral da União) organized a public hearing on Wednesday (22 January 2025) to discuss moderation policies for content published on social networks, especially the changes in use announced by the company Meta. The event was held in Brasília and was attended by ministers and other authorities.
The call for this discussion came after Meta responded, on January 13, 2025, to an extrajudicial notification from the Brazilian government, which questioned the effects of the termination of the fact-checking program.
Watch the full Public Hearing (4h51min):
The federal government has expressed concern about Meta’s policies. There is a fear that such changes could affect the protection of fundamental rights in Brazil. According to AGU, the changes proposed by the company go against the commitments made by it before the (Supreme Federal Court), during the Internet Civil Framework. On that occasion, the company ensured that its governance policies were sufficient to protect users’ rights.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the AGU minister, Jorge Messias, said that all material discussed and collected by the body would be made available to the public and sent to the STF.
“Our objective will be to make subsidies. This take from the experts’ speech will serve to organize and systematize all these subsidies, based on our status as ‘friends of the Court’. [nos processos]we will take it to the STF, which is responsible for deciding the issues, so that it can truly understand the phenomenon that is taking place and can, with this information, decide the best way possible”these.
