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04-05-2023
Brazil’s Congress is weighing a regulatory bill that would shift the burden onto internet companies to report illegal content on their sites, a controversial initiative that has pitted the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against major tech companies such as Google.
On Tuesday, Google was forced to remove a link on its home page in Brazil that advocated against Bill 2630, also known as the Fake News Law.
The link alleged that the bill would stir public confusion and called on users to contact their congressional representatives to speak out against the legislation.
The Brazilian proposal, which would create penalties for tech companies that fail to crack down on fake news and other illegal materials on their platforms, would be among the strictest legislation governing social media and other content-hosting websites.
It has been compared to the European Union’s Digital Services Act, adopted last year to regulate major tech companies and create standards for transparency and content moderation but companies like Google and Facebook have warned that Brazil’s Bill 2630 could be used for censorship and might endanger the availability of free content services.
In a statement to CNN Brasil on Tuesday, Google also argued that the bill presented “risks” to “the people who use our platforms and also to the different participants in the digital ecosystem”.
It said the bill had “undergone significant changes in recent weeks”, leading to a lack of awareness about its contents.
Google’s message on its home page prompted a fierce response from Justice Minister Flavio Dino, who accused the tech giant of trying to stifle debate.
He demanded that the link be removed within two hours, or else Google would face a fine of one million Brazilian reais, or $198,000, for every hour the messaging remained online. “What is this? An editorial? This is not a media or an advertising company,” Dino said.
Google responded by removing the link within minutes, drawing applause from Dino on Twitter. “Google has removed the coded and illegal advertising from its home page,” he wrote. “The LAW must prevail over the digital Wild West.”
He has previously called for an investigation into whether tech companies engaged in “abusive practices” in their campaign against the law. (Int’l News Desk)
