PL unites Lula and Lira against big techs and bolsonaristas – 05/03/2023 – Politics

The bill that seeks to regulate social networks in Brazil led to a clash between some of the main political, legal, business and religious forces in Brazil, a scenario explained this Tuesday (2). The project was scheduled to be voted on this Tuesday, but was postponed due to the lack of necessary support.

On the one hand, the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government mobilized once and for all in favor of approving the so-called Fake News PL, an operation commanded in the Chamber by the President of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), a former supporter of the measure .

Parliamentarians also reported, in a reserved manner, a behind-the-scenes pressure coming from the STF (Federal Supreme Court). This Tuesday, Minister Alexandre de Moraes determined that the Federal Police take depositions from the “presidents or equivalents” of the big techs within five days about the offensive made by these companies against the PL.

On the opposite side of the project are Bolsonaristas, most of the evangelical bench and the big technology companies. Some critics dubbed the text the “PL of censorship”.

The first important act on Tuesday was the responsibility of Lira and Lula, who met alone at the Alvorada Palace, which later resulted in meetings of the government’s political articulation.

Government parliamentarians in general complain mainly about the delay in the release of amendments, the main means of negotiation between the government and the Legislature.

In particular, Lira resents the loss of power to manage votes in the Chamber via the distribution and release of funds, a role she played in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) administration.

In an interview with the newspaper O Globo, he stated that Lula should return to the model of getting a majority in Congress through amendments and not just by distributing ministries and positions to allied parties.

After the meeting with Lula, Lira set out on the mission of counting vote by vote in the benches which would be the support for the bill.

In the government, in addition to the political articulation meetings after the Lira-Lula meeting, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino (PSB), called a press conference to say that he issued a precautionary measure that obliges Google to inform if it is a advertising the link that was on its homepage with the words “The bill of fake news can increase the confusion about what is true or false in Brazil”.

The link was taken down minutes after Dino’s announcement.

At the end of the afternoon, emissaries from the Planalto were sent to the Chamber to request a favorable vote from the MDB bench. Parliamentarians reported that there had been a request in this regard from the party president, Deputy Baleia Rossi, and Minister Simone Tebet (Planning).

Members of Podemos also said they were contacted by members of the government, after appeals by Dino and the Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha.

After Moraes determined that the executives of technology companies should be given testimony, Dino went to social media to praise the decision of the STF minister and president of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court).

“The decision of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, strengthens the need for an internet that complies with the Constitution and the laws. We can no longer live with a cyber western”, he said.

Moraes had already gone to the Chamber to present suggestions for the project, whose text has been changed by the rapporteur, Orlando Silva (PC do B-SP).

As shown to Sheet, Google launched an offensive as the Fake News PL. A survey by NetLab, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, suggests that the company has privileged content in search results over content contrary to its approval. It has also published an alert on YouTube about “negative impact” for creators and sent messages to youtubers about it.

Google said in a note that it supports discussions to combat misinformation. “All Brazilians have the right to be part of this conversation, and as such, we are committed to communicating our concerns about Bill 2630 publicly and transparently. We highlight these concerns in marketing campaigns across both traditional and digital media, including on our platforms.”

Bolsonarists and the evangelical bench in the Chamber held protests during the day and also claimed that there was strong pressure from the government on parliamentarians from center and right-wing parties.

“The text is full of persecution. You, who are journalists, will feel it in your skin later”, said the president of the evangelical bench, Eli Borges (PL).

Under pressure from evangelical parliamentarians, the rapporteur included in the project the guarantee of “free exercise of expression and religious cults, whether in person or remotely, and the full exposition of its dogmas and sacred books”.

Despite homophobia being a crime since 2019, part of the bench claims that the proposal will restrict demonstrations by religious people who are against homosexuality.

The Fake News PL vote gained strength in the Lula government after the coup attacks on January 8 and after the attacks on schools in São Paulo and Blumenau (SC).

The text under discussion brings, among other points, a series of obligations to social media platforms and messaging apps, such as content moderation.

The report also stipulates that the material parliamentary immunity provided for in the Constitution extends to social networks. In addition, it determines which accounts of presidents, governors, mayors, ministers, secretaries and other positions are considered to be of public interest. From this, it prohibits the holders from restricting the visualization of their publications by other users.

For social networks there are obligations, for example, to produce transparency reports and to identify all boosted and advertising content.