Fake News PL: Big techs do dirty work, says reporter – 05/01/2023 – Politics

The rapporteur for the Fake News PL, Deputy Orlando Silva (PC do B-SP), said that large technology companies are playing a dirty game to try to disrupt the approval of the proposal.

The statement was given during the Labor Day act, on May 1st, organized by trade union centrals in São Paulo.

“We had, in parallel, a dirty action by the big techs. I’ve never seen so much dirt in a political dispute. Why does Google, for example, use its majority strength in the market to broaden the range of positions of those who are against the project and reduce the reach of those who are in favor”, he said.

According to the parliamentarian, large technology companies use economic strength and market presence to distort the political debate.

He also criticized the performance of the former head of the Lava Jato task force, deputy Deltan Dallagnol (Podemos-PR), who spoke of restricting the proposal to biblical verses.

“A man who came from the Public Ministry, who has a legal background, he knows that this is impossible. But why does he choose to do this? It is part of this dirty game. And those companies that are in a sabotage work.”

The May 1st act, in Vale do Anhangabaú, was attended by president Lula (PT) and was organized by the trade union centrals CUT, Força Sindical, UGT, CTB, NCST, CSB Intersindical, Central da Classe Trabalhora and Pública.

The Fake News PL had urgency in the procedure approved in the Chamber of Deputies last Tuesday (25). It can be voted on this Tuesday (2) in plenary and, if approved, goes to the Senate.

Among the main points of the project are the duty of platforms to veto inauthentic accounts and the mandatory disclosure of transparency reports on content moderation.

The project also establishes a fine of up to 10% of the revenue of the economic group in Brazil in case of non-compliance with the law.

The text provides for payment by the platforms for the journalistic content used, without this cost being passed on to the end user. Regarding the form of payment, he points out that the agreement must be made between the platforms and the journalistic companies.

The platforms are opposed to the idea of ​​remuneration, and there is dissent among the vehicles. Entities such as Abert (Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters), Aner (National Association of Magazine Editors) and ANJ (National Association of Newspapers), which brings together the main media outlets, including Sheet, defend the PL; Smaller vehicles fear losing funding because they have less bargaining power.

The Director of Government Relations and Public Policy at Google Brasil, Marcelo Lacerda, said he considers that the PL for Fake News is vague. He defended that the company already takes measures to moderate hateful content and that the responsibility for violence in schools does not lie solely with the platforms.