Understand the agreement between Anatel and the TSE for the elections and what police power is – 03/20/2024 – Power

The TSE (Superior Electoral Court) launched, on March 12, Ciedde (Integrated Center for Combating Disinformation and Defense of Democracy), under the leadership of the president of the court, minister Alexandre de Moraes. The purpose of the center, according to the TSE, is to combat the spread of electoral disinformation, including deepfakes and speeches harmful to democracy, promoting cooperation between the Electoral Court, public bodies and private entities (such as social networks). This ensures compliance with electoral standards, such as resolution 23,610/2019, which deals with electoral propaganda and which was recently updated to address the fraudulent use of technology in political campaigns.

On the same day, as verified by Comprova, Moraes signed a technical cooperation agreement with Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) to facilitate Ciedde’s operations, since the company is one of the external institutions invited to participate in the center in a model of mutual collaboration.

Previously, in December 2023, the TSE and Anatel had already signed another agreement to guarantee a quick and direct flow of communication, electronically, between the two bodies and speed up compliance with court decisions to block websites that spread disinformation.

In this case, the police power that was mentioned by the president of Anatel, Carlos Baigorri, in reference to the action in partnership with the TSE, concerns the power that the public administration has to establish obligations, monitor and determine sanctions. In Anatel’s work, it is up to the agency, in the face of a decision by the Electoral Court, to order, for example, the removal of websites from the air for spreading misinformation, in addition to contacting telecommunications service providers so that they can block the access to the websites in question.

Therefore, Anatel complies with what is decided by the Electoral Court based on electoral regulations. In 2024, these regulations were updated to also include, among other points, the prohibition of deepfakes, the obligation to warn about the use of artificial intelligence in electoral propaganda and the responsibility of big techs for the immediate removal of content containing disinformation from the air, hate speech, Nazi and fascist ideology, as well as anti-democratic, racist and homophobic.

Police power

In a statement on March 12, Baigorri said that “Anatel will use police powers against fake news in the election.” This statement has generated repercussions about what this police power is.

To Comprova, lawyer Francisco Zardo explained that police power, contrary to what the name suggests, is not related to the actions of the Military, Civil or Federal police. Administrative police power is the power that the public administration has to order conduct, establish obligations, monitor and impose sanctions.

“For example, when health surveillance closes an unhygienic restaurant, it is exercising police power. Likewise, when Ibama fines someone for cutting down a tree without an environmental license”, explained the lawyer.

Also according to Zardo, the main purpose of the document released by the TSE is to speed up compliance with court decisions, not to introduce new powers or attributions for both institutions. “Nothing new is created, both the TSE and Anatel will continue to exercise the powers and obligations they already had, just in a more agile way, based on electronic integration”, he stated.

The lawyer also highlighted that, in the specific case, it may not be appropriate to speak of Anatel exercising police power. “Here, Anatel will merely be complying with court orders. The difference is that the systems will be integrated”, concluded Zardo.

Why we investigate

Comprova monitors suspicious content published on social networks and messaging applications about public policies and elections at the federal level and opens investigations into those publications that have greater reach and engagement. You can also suggest checks via WhatsApp +55 11 97045-4984. Suggestions and questions related to questionable content can also be sent to Folha via WhatsApp 11 99486-0293.

Read the full verification on the Comprova website.

The investigation of this content was carried out by Diário do Nordeste and Imirante and published on March 19 by Comprova, a coalition that brings together 42 vehicles to check viral content. It was verified by Folha, BandNews FM, Correio Braziliense, Estado de Minas, SBT, SBT News and Estadão.