Brazil’s Prosecutor General would suspend Bolsonaro measure opposing content removal on social networks

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s Federal Prosecutor General (PGR) Augusto Aras on Monday, September 13, submitted an opinion to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in favor of suspending the Provisional Measure issued by President Jair Bolsonaro to regulate the removal of social media content.

The head of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office argued that the injunction – effective until the highest court analyzes the substance of claims that point to the unconstitutionality of the provisional measure – would be justified due to the “complexity of the current social and political context, warranting tools to mitigate conflicts, coupled with legal certainty grounds.”

In the 27-page document sent to Justice Rosa Weber, the PGR pointed out that by establishing “an apparently exhaustive list of cases of just cause for exclusion, suspension or blocking of user accounts or the publication of user-generated content on social networks,” the provisional measure issued by Bolsonaro on the eve of September 7, in a gesture to his allies, hampers the enforcement of safeguards to prevent the spread of fake news, hate speech or attacks on institutions and the democratic system.

Aras also argued that the “sudden” change introduced by Bolsonaro’s provisional measure in the Civil Rights Framework Code for the Internet creates legal uncertainty for companies and providers, considering the “short deadline for compliance and the provision of immediate liability for potential noncompliance.”

Moreover, the PGR recalls the fake news bill being processed in the National Congress arguing that it is “prudent” to wait for this definition “after extensive and legitimate debate, in the appropriate forum.”

“In this scenario, it seems justifiable, at least in a preventive way and while these changes are not debated in the legislature, to maintain the provisions that allow the moderation of providers as established in the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, without the changes promoted by provisional measure (MP) 1.068/2021, thereby respecting legal certainty, to prevent any inadvertent disruption in this environment of intense social interaction,” reads an excerpt of the opinion.

Justice Rosa Weber is the rapporteur of claims in which 5 political parties (PSB, Solidariedade, PSDB, PT and Novo) and Senator Alessandro Vieira (Cidadania-SE) argue that the MP is unconstitutional because it favors the spread of fake news and hate speech, oversteps the prerogative of Congress to legislate on the matter and subverts the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet by stripping platforms of their autonomy to moderate content.

Urged by the magistrate to provide clarification on the text edited on the eve of September 7, the Bolsonaro government advocated the maintenance of the MP, claiming that it was designed to protect users’ freedom and rights, as well as to provide legal certainty to the relations between Internet users and providers, “preserving the Internet as an instrument of democratic participation.”