What is PL 2.630, and why is it so controversial?
- How are platforms regulated in Brazil?
Currently, content moderation follows the internal regulations published by each platform in its terms of use.
According to the Civil Code of the Internet, a Brazilian law that has governed the use of the web since 2014, companies are not criminally liable for content posted by their users.
With one exception: if they refuse to remove content after a court order, or following a complaint by a victim of dissemination of nude photos without consent.
- What is the genesis of this bill?
Bill 2.630 was introduced in 2020 in the Senate, to deal with the avalanche of false information on the internet.
It is inspired by the Digital Services Act (DSA) in force in the European Union, which imposes a long list of rules on social networks and search engines.
The parliamentary debate in Brazil was revived after the January 8 riots, when supporters of far-right ex-President Jair Bolsonaro ransacked places of power in Brasilia.
The rioters refused to accept the election in October of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against Mr. Bolsonaro, reporting fraud by relaying allegations without evidence circulating on the networks.
The regulation of digital platforms has also returned to the forefront of the news after recent attacks in schools that have revived the debate on the control of content that can push Internet users to take action.
Lula's left-wing government is in favor of this bill, as are some associative movements.
But it is rejected not only by the tech giants, but also by the Bolsonarists.
The text was approved in the Senate in June 2020, but the plenary vote in the Chamber of Deputies, scheduled for early last week, was postponed indefinitely.
- What is this bill?
The most recent version of the text, amended several times by MEPs, focuses mainly on content moderation and platform accountability.
They are thus forced to be more transparent, and to actively combat the dissemination of certain illegal content.
This includes filtering publications referring to attacks on democracy and elections, attacks on public health, paedophile or racist content, or incitement to terrorism, suicide, self-harm or violence against women.
If the bill is approved as is, these rules will apply to platforms with more than 10 million users in Brazil.
The platforms "will not be obliged to moderate all this content, but they will have to show that they are making the necessary efforts to remove it from circulation," Pablo Ortellado, professor of public policy management at the University of Sao Paulo (USP), told AFP.
For example, they will have to publish semi-annual reports "describing the measures taken to combat the spread of illegal content and listing those that have been removed".
The sanctions range from simple warnings to temporary suspension, and fines of up to 10% of their turnover.
- What are the arguments of the platforms?
Telegram sent a message this week to all its users in Brazil that claims that PL 2.630 "allows the government to limit what can be said online."
Google, for its part, spoke last week of "a series of threats to freedom of expression" due to an "excessive moderation" of platforms.
How will the controls be carried out?
Critics of the bill have long spoken of the risk of creating a "Ministry of Truth," as in George Orwell's novel "1984."
"Because of these controversies, the creation of a regulatory agency is no longer part of the latest version of the text, and this is dangerous," said Pablo Ortellado, for whom it would be important to define in the law strict rules on the independence of such a body.
© 2023 AFP