Lula government wants to punish network that keeps coup material – 01/20/2023 – Politics

Internet platforms that do not remove content in violation of the Law on the Democratic State of Law will be subject to fines, according to a proposed legislation that will be presented to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva next week. The Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, is analyzing the bill that was commissioned by the president and will be part of the so-called “Democracy Package”.

According to the proposal, platforms would be required to remove, before a court order, content that violates the law, that is, calls for the abolition of the democratic rule of law, encourages violence to overthrow the government and publicly incites animosity between the Armed Forces and the constitutional powers. In this case, the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet would not apply, which only provides for companies to be held accountable if they do not comply with a court order to withdraw content. With the new law, they would have to do this proactively.

In addition, in the event of a court order, the withdrawal of coup-promoting content would have to be done in a short period of time, under penalty of high fines – similar to the resolution adopted by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) ten days before the second round of the presidential election in 2022. The resolution established a period of two hours after notification for removal of publication, under penalty of a fine of BRL 100,000 to BRL 150,000 per hour of non-compliance.

Platforms have been slow to remove content that violates the companies’ own rules of civic integrity. According to the checking agency Lupa, after ten days, 76% of the scamming posts denounced by the agency are still online on the networks. Lupa received complaints with 2,173 unique links to material that served to organize and publicize the violent attacks of January 8. The links referred to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and Kwai.

On January 18, according to a survey by Lagom Data, 76% of these URLs were still online and could be accessed by anyone. Some of the videos or posts advocated the establishment of “chaos in Brazil” so that the military could intervene “by applying the Guarantee of Law and Order”.

On the day of the attacks in Brasilia, on January 8, authorities from more than one ministry contacted the platforms reporting on the violence and asking for urgent content moderation action to remove or reduce the reach of posts. The platforms did not commit to act.

One of the inspirations for the legislation that will be proposed is the European Union law dealing with online terrorist content. EU law requires content to be removed within an hour of being identified, and provides for the possibility of challenging and appealing the decision.

As shown by Sheetthe discussion is that the “Democracy Package” encompasses three bills, one to regulate social networks, another to make changes in the penal area, one to regulate public security in the Federal District and a PEC (proposed amendment to Constitution) to create a national guard.

In addition to the material focused on the networks, the government is considering proposing a series of changes in the criminal area to increase punishment for those who finance and lead anti-democratic attacks.

A proposal is also being prepared to speed up the punishment for this type of attack.

There is also the intention of creating new criminal offenses, such as financing or funding the commission of a coup d’état crime, for example.

On another front, the idea of ​​removing the exclusive responsibility for the security of the area that gathers the buildings of the three Powers in Brasília from the Government of the Federal District advanced. A national guard would be created and regulated by PEC, which would be responsible for the security of the area.