Brazil’s Bolsonaro meets Telegram executives, highlights “great conversations”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Tuesday, June 7, the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party – PL) met at the Planalto Palace with the vice president of Telegram, Ilya Perekopsky, and the legal representative of the messaging app in Brazil, Alan Thomaz.

The president recorded the meeting in a post on his Twitter profile.

“Today, on Press Freedom Day, I had an excellent meeting with Telegram’s Global Vice President, Mr. Ilya Perekopsky, and the legal representative in Brazil, Mr. Alan Thomaz. A great conversation about the sacred freedom of expression, democracy, and respect for the Constitution,” he wrote.

After the meeting, Ilya Perekopsky said that the conversation with Bolsonaro had been “very good.” According to him, they discussed “freedom of expression, and freedom of expression is the main principle on which Telegram is based.”

On Monday, June 6, Ilya Perekopski met with the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) president, Justice Edson Fachin. On this occasion, he said that during the elections, users of the messaging application would be able to report to the platform materials with disinformative content.

COMBATING DISINFORMATION

Telegram signed on March 25 to join the program to combat disinformation promoted by TSE.

The measure was taken after Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the STF (Federal Supreme Court) ordered the app to be blocked for failing to comply with court rulings. He later reversed the decision and allowed the platform to operate in the country.

However, one crucial question remains unanswered: who decides what disinformation is? Will this term be misused to push agendas and personal interests?

With information from Poder360