Brazil: RSF urges government to add online platform regulation to 2025 priorities
In response to changes in Meta's content moderation policies, the Brazilian government recently held a public hearing in which Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for a clear, firm liability regime for digital platforms to be urgently introduced in Brazilian law.
RSF applauds the Brazilian government’s efforts to bring the issue to an international level, as it did during the G20 presidency. However, the NGO recommends that the regulation of online platforms be one of the country's legislative priorities in 2025, alongside the conclusion of the discussions relating to the bill on artificial intelligence, which has been approved by the Brazilian Senate in an incentive to push through other necessary regulatory efforts.
This was the focus of RSF’s presentation at the hearing held by the Brazilian government on 22 January, following an announcement by Meta’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, that he would stop funding its fact-checking program in the United States. The digital platforms in question — including Google, Kwai, TikTok, Discord and LinkedIn — banded together to boycott the event.
“The Brazilian government is one of the few governments that did not remain silent in the face of Meta's announcement and is now setting an important international example by convening experts to discuss the risks of the platforms' business model. As we said at the hearing: big tech's current stance is an escalation of anti-journalism sentiment, which will deepen the spread of disinformation, the discrediting of the press and online violence against journalists. It's past time to advance a regulatory agenda establishing online platforms’ responsibility for the removal of illegal content, such as hate speech, and for the promotion of trusted sources of information.
At the public hearing, RSF warned that even if the removal of Meta's fact-checking program is a decision currently restricted to the United States, the policy will have immediate consequences worldwide — disinformation does not stop at terrestrial borders.
In Europe, RSF has already asked the European Commission to ensure compliance with the Digital Services Act and to request Meta submit an analysis of the risks posed by the changes to its policy in the United States. Countries seeking to protect themselves from the impact of Meta’s decision in the US will need to quickly pass legislation establishing a liability regime for platforms.
