Brazil asks for more accountability from digital platforms

Secretary for Digital Policies of the Secretariat for Social Communication (Secom) of the Presidency of the Republic, João Brant, defended that article 19 of the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet should be revised as a way of expanding the responsibility of social networks for content harmful to democracy and to the human rights of children and teenagers. Brant participated in a public hearing on the subject at the Supreme Federal Court (STF), this Tuesday (3/28).

Brant suggested that the current model "authorizes the omission of digital platforms". This leaves companies with "no obligation to act against illegal and harmful content, precisely in an environment in which only they are able to act". As a result, companies are not legally compelled to care for an environment where Brazilians spend so many hours a day sharing information, and where much of the current public debate circulates.

"It is worth remembering that platforms are not mere spectators of posts and events. They moderate content, define their algorithms and recommendations, which means they are responsible for defining what each of us receives and views. Now, if they are already accountable for the advertising they accept and for what we see on our profiles, they should not completely exempt themselves from responsibility for taking care to avoid the expansion of the circulation of content considered illegal by Brazilian legislation", he stated.

According to the secretary, distortions arising from the law occur when essential rights such as freedom of expression are used to justify omissions concerning illicit content. As well as those who attack the democratic rule of law, he also mentioned users who promote racism and other content against children and teenagers.

SURVEY INSIGHTS – He mentioned a study carried out on TikTok in which profiles created by researchers impersonating 13-year-olds received content promoting suicide and violence within only 10 minutes of using the platform. The research also showed that six suicide-related hashtags appear in 1.5 million posts, with nearly 9 billion views.

Another survey, carried out by the Laboratory of Internet and Social Media Studies at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (NetLab-UFRJ) pointed out that, between November 2022 and January 2023, at least 185 pieces of content contested the result of the 2020 presidential election with attacks to institutions posted on Facebook. In 151, there was not even a warning for sensitive content, possibly with false information.

"In recognition of the moderation problems, Meta's Oversight Committee announced that it would discuss the study of a Brazilian piece of content that was reported seven times on the platform and that was kept online by human reviewers, a video posted on January 3rd that called for the people to besiege the National Congress as the last alternative in relation to what was considered to be electoral fraud. This content was reproduced over 18 million times and also, raised a series of doubts and questions about the electoral system itself. This content circulated freely on digital platforms and we all know the outcome of this story", said Brant.

LIABILITY – The secretary concluded by saying that it is not about defending a 180-degree turnaround in Brazilian legislation, but finding a model that allows platforms to become more accountable for the content they place in the hands of the Brazilian public. "Establishing full strict liability on platforms could have problematic and equally negative consequences. We cannot treat all third-party content as editorialized content, because that would harm freedom of expression and access to information for Brazilian citizens", he explained.

At the same hearing at the STF, Attorney-General Jorge Messias defended the need to impose greater accountability and to demand proactivity from digital platforms, based on clear parameters – such as the manifest practice of crimes – to inhibit the occurrence of crimes on the Internet.

The hearing is part of the discussions being held in the records of Extraordinary Appeals Nos. 1.037.396 and 1.057.258, respectively, under the reports of Justices Dias Toffoli and Luiz Fux. The REs deal with rules of the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Law No. 12,965/2014). In both cases, general repercussion was recognized (Themes No. 987 and 533), having as central theme the civil liability of application providers for damages arising from content generated by third parties.

According to Messias, the debates are current and urgent, especially after the events that culminated in the January 8th attacks on democratic institutions. "Despite the usefulness of social networks, (...) search engines and messaging in everyone's daily lives, it is important to recognize that they often serve as a stage for the practice of illicit acts and threats to fundamental rights", he pondered.

RESPONSE TO EXTREMISM – Union Attorney-General, Marcelo Eugênio Feitosa Almeida, also participated in the opening panel, representing the National Attorney’s Office for the Defense of Democracy (PNDD). He highlighted that the body was created as a response to the extremism witnessed by Brazilian, with the purpose, in the judicial and extrajudicial representation of the Union, to watch over the democratic institutions, as determined by the Brazilian Constitution.

"The objective of the PNDD, therefore, is to present prompt and proportionate interventions in cases of attacks on the integrity of public action, campaigns to delegitimize the powers and disinformation against public policies. Many of these anti-democratic manifestations (...) have taken place through digital platforms and in virtual spaces, as weapons of mass destruction of democracy", he reflected.