PL 2630: Telegram deletes message after order from Moraes – 05/10/2023 – Power

Telegram deleted around 2:30 pm this Wednesday (10) a text against the PL of Fake News from the channel where it had published the message the day before.

The message was deleted minutes after Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), who threatened to take the application offline for a period of 72 hours if the messaging service did not remove text with distortions about the bill. .

Rapporteur of the fake news inquiry at the court, Moraes determined that the removal of the content should take place within one hour, counting from the subpoena of the company’s defense.

On Tuesday (9), the company published the message on one of its channels and sent app users a notification with a message against bill 2630, which is pending in the Chamber of Deputies. The company stated that “Brazil is about to pass a law that will end freedom of expression”.

Members of the Lula government (PT), the National Congress and the Public Ministry reacted to the message.

According to Telegram’s text, the project would give the government “censorship powers without prior judicial supervision”. The company encourages users to get in touch with deputies.

The text of the bill does not give the government or other administrative body the power to determine what specific content must be removed from the networks.

Despite not delegating this type of power, it brings obligations to the platforms related to this, such as combating the dissemination of posts that constitute crimes against the democratic State, against children and adolescents, racism, among others.

In the text sent to users, Telegram states that “democracy is under attack in Brazil” and says that the Chamber should vote on the project soon, criticizing the alteration of the text, which had new articles included.

“See how this bill will kill the modern internet if it is approved with the current wording. If it is approved, companies like Telegram may have to stop providing services in Brazil”, says the note.

“This bill allows the government to limit what can be said online by forcing apps to proactively remove facts or opinions that it deems “unacceptable” [1] and suspend any internet service – without a court order. [2]”, says the company.

Also on Tuesday, the Sheet questioned Telegram about the purpose of sending the message and to which users it was sent. He also asked which articles in the project allow for talk of “censorship” and “the end of freedom of expression”.

The company did not respond to who the message was sent and said that its “legal team carried out a thorough analysis of the changes introduced to the PL” and sent a more detailed text link that can also be accessed by the triggered message.