Chamber may vote on the urgency of the fake news bill this week

Federal Deputy Orlando Silva Photo Valter Campanato / Agência Brasil The Chamber of Deputies can vote on Wednesday (26) on the urgency and merit of the project that deals with the fight against fake news and regulates social networks. The text, which has been in process since 2020, is under negotiation with the rapporteur, Deputy Orlando Silva (PCdoB-SP). The opinion can be delivered this Monday (24) or Tuesday (25). It addresses, for example, accountability, transparency, monetization, and content leverage. In practice, the proposal talks about moderation: it intends to expand the list of content that must be removed from the air before a court decision, according to the coordinator of the Working Group on Platform Regulation of the Internet Steering Committee, Henrique Faulhaber. “When we talk about platform regulation, now, it is to create a larger list of topics that the provider must, with the so-called duty of care, intervene, moderating content, even before the court order. What would have to be included would be incitement to hatred, terrorism and attacks on democracy”. The project establishes what is an identified account or an inauthentic one (one that simulates the identity of another person to deceive the public), an artificial distribution network or an automated account (managed by a computer program, robots) and also defines about mass forwarding of messages (sent by more than five users within a period of up to 15 days to multiple recipients). The text also deals with the responsibilities of providers. Coordinator Henrique Faulhaber emphasizes that the proposal does not intend to censor social networks. “In a subject that involves opinion, you cannot leave it to the discretion of companies to remove from the air what they think may result in a fine, and, with that, create censorship”. The proposal also provides for the creation of an Internet Transparency and Responsibility Council, composed of 21 councilors – among them, representatives of the Legislative, the National Council of Justice, the Internet Steering Committee in Brazil and civil society. Even with the possibility of voting on urgency and merit this week, the text is not unanimous in the Chamber. Parliamentarians from parties such as PSOL, PDT and União Brasil presented requests for the creation of a special commission, with this, the text would be debated for a longer time by federal deputies. Listen on the National Radio Agency:

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