SAO PAULO (AP) 鈥� Brazil鈥檚 President signed two decrees on Wednesday that add to the pressure on big tech companies by increasing their liability for illegal content shared by its users and paving the way for investigations by a government body into their responses to such cases.
The moves toughen the environment in for giants like Google, Meta and TikTok, who have long tried to dissociate themselves with crimes online committed by users.
The first decree makes key adaptations to government regulations to align them with a decision by Brazil鈥檚 making big tech companies liable if they refuse to remove content by judicial order. It also enables the country鈥檚 national agency of data protection to investigate those cases. The second decree establishes guidelines for the protection of women in the digital environment.
Brazil鈥檚 government said in a statement that from now on platforms must analyze any complaints, and if the content is deemed criminal, remove it immediately, while communicating the decision to the person responsible. Possible penalties for non-compliance include warnings, fines and temporary suspension.
Big tech companies have not commented on the decision by Brazil鈥檚 government.
Patricia Peck, a council member of Brazil鈥檚 Data Protection Authority and author of 46 books on law and technology, said the country鈥檚 executive and judicial branches have pushed for big techs to be proactive against crimes online despite evident stagnation of the debate in congress.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have specific legislation to hold these platforms responsible, we are taking a side road,鈥� Peck told The Associated Press. 鈥淭hose who develop these technologies must think about it with perspective of ethics, privacy, and security as a standard.鈥�
Since the Brazilian Supreme Court ruling last year, these companies have had to actively monitor content that involves hate speech, racism and incitation to violence and act to remove it.
Lula鈥檚 move also expands the current law鈥檚 capacity to address the growth of digital fraud, online scams and new forms of online violence.
Mattheus Puppe, an expert on Brazil鈥檚 digital law, says the decrees seek to stop platforms from profiting from illegal publications and reinforce the country鈥檚 Supreme Court鈥檚 decision. But he has doubts on whether the government鈥檚 initiatives will indeed hinder online crime.
鈥淚t is not clear how well this will work because the agency that was chosen to investigate cases can barely do its job now,鈥� Puppe said. 鈥淏ut it is true that it shouldn鈥檛 be up to companies to know what is lawful and what is not.鈥�
Brazil鈥檚 approach to big techs is increasingly similar to that of the European Union, which has sought to rein in the power of social media companies and other digital platforms.
But it has unsettled the relationship between the South American nation and the U.S. government. Critics expressed concern that the move could threaten free speech if platforms preemptively remove content that could be problematic.
Earlier this year, a law that from addictive, violent, and pornographic online content took effect. The legislation requires minors under 16 to link their social media accounts to a legal guardian to ensure supervision and prohibits platforms from using addictive features such as infinite scroll and the automatic play of videos.
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