A Digital Era It imposes challenges on democratic institutions and, in Brazil, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) has taken protagonism in the discussion. During one of the panels of Web Summit Rio 2025the minister LUÍS ROBERTO BARROSOwhich presides over the court, pointed out what are the main obstacles in this relationship between law and technology.
For the minister, there are three points: to find the balance between freedom of expression and abuse protection; Preserve humanity in judicial decisions even using AI; and prevent technology from reproducing social discrimination. “Law requires a touch of humanization, under penalty of harming the realization of justice,” said Barroso.
About related to technology, Barroso stressed that the Supreme, alongside civil society, press and part of the political class, has sought to contain the advance of extremist discourses in the networks and the attempted coup d’état in Brazil. This, according to him, while preserving citizens’ freedom of expression.
“It is a fundamental value in democracy, but it is necessary to prevent the world from falling into an abyss of incivility,” he said. The minister even clarified the decision that (former Twitter) in the country.
According to him, the measure was not directly related to content moderation, but with the breach of Brazilian law by the company, which withdrew its legal representation in Brazil to avoid judicial communications.
Transformation speed and the limits of regulation
Along with this, for the president of the Supreme Court there is also the challenge of regulating technologies in a world in accelerated transformation. “The landline took 75 years to reach 100 million users; the mobile phone, 16; the internet, 7 years. The chatgpt reached 100 million in two months,” he compared.
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For Barroso, it must be done from general principles such as protection of democracy, privacy and individual freedom, as legislating on something so changeable is difficult.
Asked about the judgment of the constitutionality of article 19 of the Internet Civil Marco, he praised the current rule, which only blames platforms for third party content after court order. However, the minister defended adjustments.
“She’s a good general rule, but it’s not enough,” he said. In his vote in the Supreme Court, he proposed three levels of liability: judicial notification as a rule; Removal after private notification in case of serious crimes; and duty of algorithmic care to prevent publication of contents such as child pornography and terrorism.
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“The algorithm must be programmed to prevent these contents from even being published. And if there is repeated flaws, the platform can be held responsible,” he explained. Barroso also differentiated crimes against honor, which will continue to demand a court decision to avoid improper censorship.
Artificial Intelligence in the Supreme Court
About the Supreme, Barroso detailed tools such as the Victor System, which screen for resources, and Maria, which summarizes extensive processes. “With 83 million processes in progress in Brazil, AI has become essential,” he said.
Nevertheless, the minister ruled out that AI will replace judges in the short term. “It can write minutes or decide simple questions, but the responsibility is always from the judge. In law, delegates attribution, but never responsibility.”
