Deputies warn of attempts by government officials to vote on “censorship bill”

In the last week of Congress activity before the parliamentary recess, government supporters have been moving behind the scenes to try to put PL 2630/20 on the agenda in the Chamber of Deputies by Friday (22). Opposition parliamentarians warned the People’s Gazette about the possible inclusion of the project that “threatens to freedom of expression” in the final stretch of the legislative house’s work this year.

The project, also known as “PL da Censura” and “PL das Fake News” was scheduled to be voted on in May this year, but was removed from the agenda after strong pressure from the opposition and various sectors of society. Since then, it has remained at a standstill awaiting further deliberation.

The opposition leader, Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ), was one of the parliamentarians who confirmed the existence of talks to put the proposal to a vote this week. “We are attentive, as we believe that Lira [deputado Arthur Lira (PP-AL), presidente da Câmara] wants to put it on the agenda on a day when there will be virtual voting, as it would be less difficult for us to obstruct”, he told the reporter.

For federal deputy Paulo Bilynskyj (PL-SP), the way they want to vote on the proposal is quite “risky”, because it avoids the debate on a “very dangerous project”.

“We are analyzing the risk of this PL being voted on this week. This is a very dangerous project. He brings censorship to Brazil in a way that never happened. This is not the time to bring this project. If it is put on the agenda in a session that is not in person, we are afraid of the way it might be treated. The people will not accept this type of maneuver”, he warned.

In the assessment of deputy Rodolfo Nogueira (PL-MS), the project “brings risks to social networks and also to journalism as a whole”. “The Censorship Bill is a ‘shut up’ for anyone who wants to tell the truth. And guiding a project like this, so harmful to freedom of expression and freedom of the press, in the last week of parliament, could even be an outrage to opposition deputies and the Brazilian people”, he told People’s Gazette.

Representative Gustavo Gayer (PL-GO) also warned about the risk of the project being voted on “when the lights go out”. “They [governistas] They are using Janja’s case to now try to guide this PL in the plenary, this is the information that goes behind the scenes”, said the deputy on social media.

The project

The project, reported by deputy Orlando Silva (PCdoB-SP), was once again defended and requested by government officials to be voted on in the Chamber, after the hacker invasion of the profile of First Lady Janja da Silva.

In the weekly live, this Tuesday (19), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended alongside the First Lady the regulation of social networks. “How do we deal with this without censorship? It’s a challenge,” said Lula. And he added: “The European Union has already made a regulation. We will have to take a good look at what has been done, let’s see what is happening in China, in the USA”. The Chinese government exerts strong restrictive control over internet use in the country.

The text defended by the Lula government has the collaboration of Supreme Court ministers and collects criticism from politicians, journalists, jurists and Big Techs themselves.

Among the main negative points of the PL are the possibility of forcing platforms to take down content more quickly; the handing over of the “monopoly of truth” to the State; the privilege granted to major press vehicles; the lack of openness of proposals to public debate; the lack of clarity of some ideas; and the hypothesis of scaring away some social networks in Brazil.

For federal deputy Captain Alden (PL-BA), the Lula administration’s proposal is to take advantage of the last week of voting in the National Congress to strategically place PL 2630 for approval. “We will not allow PL 2630 to be approved. If Lula’s misgovernment intends to shove this nefarious project down our throats on the voting agenda! We will vote against and give yet another defeat to this attack by Lula and his gang against democracy”, says Alden.