According to the president, the government claims that each country has its own sovereignty
The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will meet his ministers this Friday the 10th to discuss the decision of Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, to put an end to fact-checking on their platforms. According to the president, the government claims that each country has its own sovereignty.
“I think it is extremely serious that people want digital communication not to have the same responsibility as those who commit a crime in the written press”, Lula told journalists on the morning of Thursday 9th. “It is as if a citizen could be punished because he does something in real life and can’t be punished for doing the same thing digitally.”
The president initially said the meeting would take place on Thursday. However, the press office of the Presidency of the Republic has informed that a meeting between government members will take place next Friday to discuss the Meta’s decision. Lula said that what he wants, “really, is for each country to have its sovereignty protected.”
And he underlined: “One citizen, two citizens, three citizens cannot think of undermining the sovereignty of a nation.”
Last Tuesday, Meta announced sweeping changes to its content moderation policies.
In practice, they put an end to Big Tech’s fact-checking program, an initiative adopted to reduce the spread of misinformation on the company’s social networks.
Users
Now, instead of relying on independent information-checking organizations, Meta will rely on users themselves to add corrections to posts that may contain false or misleading information.
The day before yesterday, on the occasion of the celebration in memory of the coup attacks of January 8, 2023 against the headquarters of the three powers, Lula declared that the Brazilian government will not tolerate fake news. According to the president, disinformation puts people’s lives at risk and promotes attacks on institutions.
“We will not tolerate hate speech and fake news that put people’s lives at risk and (leads to) incitement to violence against the rule of law,” the President of the Republic said.
Like Lula, ministers of the Federal Tribunal (STF), including Edson Fachin and Alexandre de Moraes, also spoke out against Meta’s decision.
Big Tech’s new social media moderation policy was made official Thursday in Portuguese. The decision was only available in English. Parts of the document allow the free association of homosexuals and transgenders with terms such as “weird” on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, as long as it is done in a “satirical” way. This excerpt also appears in the Brazilian version.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) informed on Wednesday 8th that it will send a letter to Meta to question the changes in content moderation. The accusation is part of an ongoing civil investigation, since 2021, into the responsibility of big tech in the contents published by their users.
The Federal Attorney General’s Office (AGU) also reacted to the changes announced by the company.
AGU Prime Minister Jorge Messias said Brazil has legal mechanisms to deal with disinformation and that the government will not allow the online environment to become an unregulated space.
Translation
Meta translated multiple rules into Portuguese, such as the one that allows the defense of gender or religious superiority to the detriment of others and the accusation of mental illness or abnormality based on gender.
Other guidelines that prohibited publications with exclusive language about immigration, homosexuality and religion were rescinded.
In other words, under the new rules attacks against people or groups will be tolerated, for example “with the claim that they have or spread the coronavirus”.
‘Roots’
The detente of the discourse shared by users has accompanied the dismissal of the big technological fact-checkers.
It becomes the community’s responsibility to add corrections to publications that may contain false or misleading information.
Mark Zuckerberg, owner of Meta, defended the update: “It’s time to get back to our roots when it comes to freedom of expression.”
The company’s new president of global affairs, Joel Kaplan, argued that the measure would eliminate overly restrictive rules on topics of “frequent political debate.”
The end of the moderation policy is another step towards rapprochement between Zuckerberg and the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.
The information is from the newspaper The State of S. Paolo.
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.
