Ministers defend platform accountability after death of young victim of fake news

Regulation

The 22-year-old was attacked after being identified as Whindersson’s boyfriend

The Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship, Silvio de Almeida, and the Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves, came out to defend the regulation and accountability of social media platforms after the death of young Jéssica Vitória Canedo, who suffered a wave of hate online after wide-ranging pages, such as the “Choquei” profile, published false information that she was in a relationship with comedian Whindersson Nunes.

Silvio de Almeida stated that the “irresponsibility of the companies that govern social networks in the face of content that other irresponsible and criminal people propagate on it has destroyed families and made a minimally healthy social life impossible”.

“The regulation of social networks becomes a civilizing imperative, without which there is no talk of democracy or even dignity. The rest is a bet on chaos, death and the monetization of suffering”,

noted Almeida in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Cida Gonçalves argued that this is yet another tragedy “resulting from the irresponsibility of profiles on social networks that profit from misogyny and the dissemination of lies and, equally, the lack of accountability on the platforms”.

“It is unacceptable that the lying content against Jéssica, which led to a defamation campaign against the young woman, was not removed from the air either by the page owner or by platform and his mother”, wrote the minister online.

Understand the case

On the 18th, fake prints simulating a conversation between Jéssica and Whindersson were published on social media pages with a wide reach, such as “Choquei”, which has 21 million followers. This made the young woman the target of an intense hate campaign.

“I never imagined having to come here and speak out about anything. After all, I’m not famous and I never wanted to be. All this clowning is nothing more than a very dull joke. It was very obvious that the intention of this was to ridicule me. (…) I can’t deal with that kind of exposure. This was the most difficult year of my life, I’m just grateful for making it to December alive,”

published the young woman six days ago.

This week, Jéssica’s mother also published a video crying and begging for the attacks to stop, as her daughter suffered from depression. According to her, Jessica had tried to take her life a few times.

In a note signed by lawyer Adélia de Jesus Soares, the “Choquei” page stated that “no irregularity occurred in the dissemination of information” and that “all publications were made based on data available at the time and in strict compliance with the usual activities arising exercise of the right to information”.

The comedian also published a note through the Nonstop Produções SA office, which manages his career. “Perplexed by the triggering of this new public massacre caused by the negative use of social networks, the artist laments: ‘I am extremely sad. I went back to the day I lost my son. Let no one go through the pain of burying a child,’” the text states.

Fake News PL

For three years, a bill has been pending in Congress that criminalizes the large-scale dissemination of fake news. The text has already been approved in the Senate and was ready to be voted on in the Chamber in May, but, despite the support of Planalto and the president of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), it ended up being removed from the agenda due to lack of consensus.

If the text is approved, it would become a crime, for example, to promote or finance with an automated account or other means not authorized by the providers the mass dissemination of untrue messages that are capable of compromising the electoral process or that could cause damage to the physical integrity.

*With information from O Globo

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