Lawyer Estela Aranha says the billionaire’s statements show that Brazil urgently needs proper regulation of social networks.
Former secretary for digital rights at the Ministry of Justice, lawyer Estela Aranha sees the recent actions of billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), as “an attack by far-right foreign political forces on democratic institutions in Brazil” .
Over the weekend, the businessman harshly criticized the Brazilian judiciary, particularly Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), and threatened to reactivate profiles deleted by court decision.
Musk said Moraes “should resign or be impeached.” The billionaire also said that the minister “has blatantly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and the Brazilian people.”
Aranha, who until last month was head of the Justice Ministry’s Digital Rights Secretariat, says the billionaire’s episode shows that Brazil urgently needs adequate regulation of social networks, as well as establishing the responsibilities of these platforms.
He points out that Musk’s behavior could eventually lead to X being suspended in Brazil. Estela Aranha even believes that this could be one of Musk’s goals in attacking Moraes, “to provoke a stronger reaction, to intensify the debate.”
The owner of
Musk also shared publications by American journalist Michael Shellenberger showing emails from Twitter’s legal team about requests from Brazilian courts regarding the profiles of people investigated in the investigation. Shellenberger classified such requests as violations of freedom of expression in the country.
On Sunday evening (4/7), Moraes reacted to Musk’s statements and ordered that the billionaire be investigated. The minister included the owner of
Furthermore, it established a daily fine of R$100,000 for each social network profile unblocked, in violation of the court’s decision. And he underlined the possible punishment for the company’s legal managers in Brazil if this were to happen.
The news contacted the X press office, who responded with an automated email asking to look for them later, as they are busy.
After Musk’s threats not to respect Moraes’ decisions, the official profile X announced in a note that the decisions would be challenged in court.
“AX Corp. has been forced by court decisions to block some popular accounts in Brazil. (…) We are threatened with daily fines if we do not comply with the order,” the company said.
“We do not believe that such orders comply with the Marco Civil da Internet or the Federal Constitution of Brazil and we will legally challenge them to the extent possible,” the statement continues.
Below are key excerpts from the interview with Estela Aranha.
BBC News Brasil – How do you evaluate these recent statements by Musk?
Spider stele – Musk has long supported the far right around the world. And he used that journalist’s publications to do this in Brazil. Those publications mention many different decisions from Brazilian courts, some from the fake news investigation, some from the electoral court, and other actions. He (Michael Shellenberger) took the Twitter legal team’s comments and decontextualized them.
I spoke to the employees who were exposed there (in the released emails) and they explained to me that they removed some emails from the chronological order, creating a narrative of censorship in Brazil and as if Twitter was the herald of freedom of expression. They spoke of abuse by Alexandre de Moraes in light of this narrative.
And since then they have made this political appeal: let’s go against censorship and let’s go against judicial decisions, to free everyone. Most of these suspended profiles were calling for the coup (of January 8) and now they say they don’t know why they were suspended, but obviously they know. Occasionally, there may be secret decisions, but most are not.
They mixed electoral actions with non-electoral actions, they mixed investigations into fake news and extracts of emails they wanted. Then the narration is very good.
Musk says he will reactivate all the profiles, so it may be that all those Bolsonarist profiles (overthrown by the courts) will return.
BBC News Brasil – And what should be the consequences of these measures announced by Musk?
Spider stele – It is difficult to quantify why they are provoking the STF to suspend Twitter. And Musk himself has said that it may be necessary to suspend operations in Brazil.
If Twitter were suspended, it would confirm their own story that they criticized the STF and were suspended by Moraes. But this is not really the case, because in that case they would not respect the decisions of the Judiciary. They do this to provoke a stronger reaction, to intensify the debate and tension in Bolsonarism. It’s something well orchestrated.
It is a legal possibility (taking Twitter offline) as a last resort. What Musk did could support this type of action, which in this case is the most extreme sanction. It is a debate that the judiciary must carry out when necessary, if it does not comply with its legal obligations.
BBC News Brazil – Musk echoes other critics of Moraes, who believe the minister has concentrated too much power during elections and is making discretionary decisions. What is your rating?
Spider stele – We have the far right attacking the country’s democracy. The goal is not technical, it is not a discussion about decisions. This is a far-right political attack against the STF and the TSE (Higher Electoral Court).
We can always have a public debate (on decisions) within the Court. But what is happening is not a debate. It is a transnational company, without any governance, whose owner is known for far-right activism, which affects the democratic system of a country on the basis of a political agenda that it has been pursuing and radicalizing for some time.
We’re not saying things can’t be discussed. In this case it is a political attack by far-right forces outside the Brazilian political system. It’s something orchestrated.
There can always be political or technical and legal discussions about decisions. But this action is not such an argument, it is an attack by far-right foreign political forces on Brazil’s democratic institutions.
BBC News Brazil- In 2023, while at the Ministry, you helped design a policy that called for greater action by social networks in moderating information that could increase violence in schools, at a time when Brazil has had several attacks in similar periods. How do you rate this experience? How has your relationship with Twitter been during this time?
Spider stele – It’s clear that moderation is a serious issue on social media. We have a lot of illegal or harmful content on the networks. And all the services you offer, whether digital or in person, must offer a safe place, you cannot allow violations of the law and this continues with impunity.
Obviously we need to take care of the risks that are generated, which we call systemic risks, that these social networks pose. Networks, in general, are still below what is necessary in relation to a safety service and with less damage.
And above all Twitter, after the acquisition by Musk (in October 2022), has worsened in this respect. Its situation is not comparable to that of other networks that are trying to provide a service. Twitter has increasingly reduced content moderation. They didn’t want to remove explicit content that encouraged mass attacks, there is content on the sexual exploitation of minors just a click away, on terrorism…
And they offer these profiles to users. A few days ago they sent me the profile of a terrorist to report. I saw the profile and then the network itself started suggesting different similar content. As well as suggesting themes such as self-mutilation, anorexia or exploitation. All this is recommended without any moderation.
At the time of the attacks on schools, when we carried out the Safe School project, after much pressure, Twitter began to expressly exclude these contents (which encouraged the attacks), but it took a lot of effort to cooperate.
We also had difficulties with Telegram (the messaging app), but from the point of view of the social network, it is on Twitter that crimes are committed at will.
BBC News Brasil – The official profile How do you evaluate these types of statements?
Spider stele – This is the debate about interpreting the Civil Mark from the Internet so as not to hold a platform responsible for third-party content. As if it were something individual and not a general obligation of the platform to maintain the security of the service and to worry about issues that could cause general damage.
All this (the responsibility of the platforms) is foreseen by the legislation when it says that they cannot cause collective risks aggravated by the service they provide, that they must maintain the integrity of their environment, things that are essential in social networks.
The Civil Code must be followed by the general rules on fundamental rights of our Constitution, which provides for the responsibility of those who cause damage or risks. The social network may not be responsible for that specific publication, but regarding its service in general it is absolutely responsible.
Furthermore, Marco Civile states that networks can exclude content in accordance with Brazilian legislation and international human rights. And Brazilian legislation can evaluate the relevance of a publication and order its cancellation, as appears in this case.
We are talking about judicial decisions which obviously must be respected. In some of these cases we also talk about electoral integrity, such as investigations into fake news or digital militias.
And of course, the regulation of social networks is very important so that all this is very clear, without misinterpretations.
And this response from
The company has every right to challenge this in court. Now it remains to be seen whether X will follow the legal person or the private swagger.
BBC News Brasil – What do you think is the best way to regulate social networks in the country? And what has Brazil done in this regard?
Spider stele – Regulation of social networks is necessary and urgent. We need to be clear about what the guidelines should be on transparency, due legal process, content moderation, monitoring compliance with national legislation by these companies.
On the social network front there is a lot to do and a lot to discuss, the one currently most underway is PL (invoice) 2630, known as the PL fake news [parado na Câmara dos Deputados, o projeto busca reforçar a regulamentação e fiscalização sobre plataformas digitais, como redes sociais, aplicativos de trocas de mensagens e ferramentas de busca, mas especialistas como Estela defendem que o projeto precisa de mais discussões]. But other measures will also be needed.
Brazil needs to urgently move forward in this regard and it is important to give urgency to what is already underway.
We cannot turn a blind eye to this problem because it is important to adapt all legislation. We cannot turn a blind eye to this because the impacts are enormous on society. Existing laws can be relied upon, but specific legislation would go a long way in clarifying the obligations of social networks, what they must comply with and what the sanctions are if they do not comply.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
