Brazil’s Fake News Law

May 4, 2023

Brazil’s Congress is considering a regulatory bill that would shift the responsibility of reporting illegal content on their sites onto internet companies. The bill, known as the Fake News Law or Bill 2630, proposes penalties for tech companies that fail to crack down on fake news and other illegal materials on their platforms. This proposed legislation would create one of the strictest regulations governing social media and content-hosting websites.

Controversial initiative

The introduction of Bill 2630 has caused a conflict between the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and tech giants like Google and Facebook. These companies have cautioned that the legislation could be employed to impose censorship and threaten the existence of open content services. Google was forced to remove a link from its homepage in Brazil that advocated against the bill. The link alleged that the bill would cause public confusion and called on users to contact their congressional representatives to speak out against the legislation.

Order for testimony

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued an order requiring the Brazilian leaders of major tech companies to give testimony to federal police about possible misinformation spread about the bill. The order included the heads of Google, Meta, Spotify, and Brasil Paralelo, a conservative content website.

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