Google asks the STF to end an inquiry into the Fake News PL – 07/05/2023 – Politics

Google reiterated in a statement sent to the STF (Federal Supreme Court) this Wednesday (5) that it did not run a defamatory campaign against the Fake News PL, which is being processed by the National Congress.

In the document to Minister Alexandre de Moraes, the company also stated that it is not “against the creation of laws aimed at regulating the services provided by internet application providers” and defended the filing of an inquiry that investigates the reaction of big techs to the project.

“The manifestations of the petitioner [Google]whether through texts on their blog or through phrases on the company’s official homepage, have always had the objective of fostering debate for better reflection and maturation of the legislative text which, in their view, still deserved improvements”, he said , in a petition signed by lawyers Pierpaolo Bottini and Aldo Romani Netto.

A Sheet showed that, almost two months after approving the procedure on an urgent basis, the PL has lost steam and is paralyzed in an impasse between the artistic sector and broadcasting companies, which removed the issue from the radar of votes in the Chamber of Deputies.

The STF investigation was initiated in May, at the request of the PGR (Attorney General of the Republic), to investigate an alleged irregular attack by platforms against the project.

The PGR was triggered by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), who accused them of “forceful and abusive action against” the proposal.

Lira stated that the companies used “a sordid campaign of disinformation, manipulation and intimidation, taking advantage of their hegemonic position in the market”.

Google stated that demonstrations on topics of public interest should be allowed, even if to criticize the current legislation and defend its modification, including on topics.

“The Constitution of the Republic does not prohibit people or entities from issuing opinions favorable or contrary to bills or any acts of the Public Power. On the contrary, this is exactly the role of citizens in a healthy and consolidated democracy”, he said.

The company also highlighted in the demonstration to Moraes that the remuneration of journalistic content by the platforms is one of the points that, in its view, requires additional reflection.

“The breadth or imprecision of the criteria for recognizing content of this nature may end up encouraging the promotion of disinformation, through publications that are supposedly journalistic, but which in reality disclose untruths, which not infrequently occurs in the digital world”, he said.

Among the measures determined by the minister of the STF when the investigation was initiated, representatives of Google in Brazil were questioned by the Federal Police.

Executives denied that the platform acted to interfere with internet search results on the Fake News PL.

They were also questioned by investigators about spending R$ 2 million on advertisements about the proposal under analysis by Congress.

“The declarant initially clarified that the ads were not contrary to PL 2630/2020, being attached to questions regarding the need for improvements in its text”, says an excerpt from the testimony of Marcelo Oliveira Lacerda, responsible for the area of ​​government and political relations by Google, a copy of which was sent to the Supreme Court.

“Next, he confirmed that such services had been contracted and that campaign spending totaled around 2 million reais.”

Lacerda and the president of Google in Brazil, Fábio José Silva Coelho, were heard on the 15th by the PF team in charge of investigations that are being processed in higher courts.

Coelho, in turn, told investigators that he endorsed the text on the Fake News PL and said he believed that the objective was to “alert the legislative body” about the risk of approving the project and the need to improve the text.

At Sheet, the company spent around BRL 634,000 per advertisement aired on April 30, according to the document. The spreadsheet for expenses with advertisements in press vehicles to defend his points of view on the project was sent to Moraes in early May.