Brazil: Oppn mulls legal action after Bolsonaro's decree limiting social media moderation

The Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signed an executive order on Monday, 7 September, that alters the regulations for social media content moderation, a move that critics say could impede the fight against disinformation. Alessandro Molon, a member of the opposition and the rapporteur for Brazil's Internet Bill of Rights (MCI), said he was contemplating legal action to reverse the presidential decree. "Its goal isn't to protect freedom of expression; the MCI does that already," Molon explained. "What (Bolsonaro) wants is to keep the falsehoods and hate speech that he and his supporters spread from being deleted from social media sites."

Political row in Brazil over social media policy moderation

According to reports, the decree takes effect right now, but it must be ratified by Congress before it becomes law. However, according to the federal communications secretariat, it intends to combat providers' arbitrary and unlawful deletion of accounts, profiles, and information.

Last month, Human Rights Watch had said that Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro blocked social media followers who criticize him, infringing on their rights to free speech, access to information, and participation in the conduct of public affairs.

Human Rights Watch found 176 prohibited accounts, the bulk of which were on Twitter, including journalists, members of Congress, influencers with over a million followers, and private citizens with only a few followers. 

Bolsonaro, who has had content removed from his social media accounts for disseminating false information on COVID-19, claims that the suspension or removal of accounts and content that he and some of his supporters have been subjected to is "censorship."

Brazil announces changes to its social media content moderation policy

The new provision outlines a set of scenarios in which platforms would have "just cause" to remove content or suspend users, such as committing crimes or inciting violence and imposes new requirements for platforms to follow. This temporary measure obstructs our capacity to curb abuse on our platforms, a Facebook representative told AFP. "We concur with legal professionals and experts who believe the measure violates constitutional rights."

The government on Brazil wrote, "Brazilian government is taking the global lead in defending free speech on social networks and protecting the right of citizens to freedom of thought and expression."

Tensions raise after the decree signed 

On the eve of Brazil's Independence Day, when his supporters are expected to take to the streets in major cities around the country, Bolsonaro announced the decree. Tensions are high since anti-Bolsonaro protests are planned in the same cities, raising the possibility of violence between the two factions. With polls showing Bolsonaro losing badly to leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in next year's presidential elections, the ex-army captain is seeking to energise his fans during the event.

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