Brazil looks to regulate monetized content on Internet

The Brazilian authorities is finding out whether or not to manage Internet platforms with content material that earns income comparable to promoting, its secretary for digital insurance policies, Joao Brant, stated on Friday.

The concept could be for a regulator to carry such platforms, not customers, accountable for monetized content material, Brant instructed Reuters.

Another aim is “to prevent the networks from being used for the dissemination and promotion of crimes and illegal content” particularly after the riots by supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia in January, fueled by misinformation concerning the election he misplaced in October.

Brant stated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s authorities additionally intends to make firms chargeable for stopping misinformation, hate speech and different crimes on their social media platforms. Platforms wouldn’t be held chargeable for content material individually, however for the way diligent they’re in defending the “digital environment,” he stated in an interview.

Brant didn’t element what the regulatory physique would seem like, however stated the federal government desires to manage monetized content material and stop the platforms from spreading misinformation.

“What the body would do is monitor whether the platforms are fulfilling their obligations well, and not deal with individual content published by users. That must be up to the courts,” he stated.

Brant didn’t specify the position the judiciary would play in combating misinformation. Any proposal would require adjustments to the regulatory framework within the 2014 regulation often called the “Marco Civil” that governs the Internet in Brazil and protects the rights of customers.

The regulation’s Article 19 exempts platforms from obligation “for damages resulting from content generated by third parties”, except there’s a particular court docket order for the removing of the content material.

For Brant, the present framework “generates an incentive for platforms not to take care of the public space of debate.”

The absence of accountability for content material that’s promoted, monetized or offered as promoting should be reconsidered, he stated, including: “For them to have zero responsibility for that content is very bad.”

Brazil’s Supreme Court has been discussing the constitutionality of Article 19 since 2017, based mostly on a lawsuit filed by Meta Platforms Inc Meta, proprietor of Facebook and WhatsApp.

Meta questioned its accountability for eradicating content material and not using a court docket resolution in a case involving a pretend Facebook profile. The court docket scheduled a public listening to on the difficulty for March 28.

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