Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes said social media companies must comply with domestic laws and regulations to continue operating in Brazil. A day after media giant Meta announced it was abandoning its fact-checking program.
Moraes said Brazil’s Supreme Court would not allow technology companies to exploit hate speech for profit, adding that social media in the country “will not turn into a lawless state”.
“Regardless of the bravado of Big Tech’s irresponsible leaders, they will continue to operate only if they respect Brazilian law,” the judge said.
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Although Moraes did not name any companies in his Wednesday comments, the comments came a day after Meta announced it was canceling its U.S. fact-checking program, citing political bias concerns.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also criticized acts of censorship in various regions around the world in his video statement, criticizing Latin America, Europe, and China.
Moraes is the judge behind last year’s top court decision to temporarily suspend Elon Musk-owned social media platform X in the country.
The growing rift between Brazilian authorities and Musk was triggered by Musk’s failure to comply with court orders demanding action against the spread of hate speech. Musk had condemned orders like censorship.
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Brazil’s newly appointed Communications Minister Sidonio Palmeira criticized Meta’s decision, calling it “bad for democracy.”
,[Without fact-checking] “You can’t control the spread of hate, misinformation and fake news,” he said, adding that Brazil needs to regulate social media like Europe does.
Zuckerberg had said that Meta would start by eliminating fact checkers in America. Brazil’s prosecutor’s office gave the company 30 days to clarify whether it intended to implement the changes in Brazil as well.
Prosecutors’ order was related to an ongoing investigation into actions taken by social media platforms to combat online misinformation and violence in Brazil.
ftm/rmt (Reuters, AFP)
