Brazil’s Electoral Court signs agreement with digital platforms to censor information

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Superior Electoral Court (TSE) renews on Tuesday, February 15, the partnership with major digital platforms to control and censor the information available to the population under the guise of combating the spread of fake news in the electoral process.

The event will be virtual, starting at 11 AM, and will be attended by the president of the Court, Luís Roberto Barroso, and representatives of companies like Google, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, and Kwai.

The platforms will sign memorandums of understanding, which are documents that detail what will be done to combat what they consider to be disinformation in the 2022 elections.

The first election round is scheduled for October 2 and the second, for October 30. A commitment to prioritize “official information” to reduce the “harmful” impact of “fake news” on the election is to be signed.

In other words, a commitment to prioritize their official narrative to reduce the disruptive impact that alternative information channels could have on their interests for the election.

The measures, although focused on the electoral period, should last until December 31, 2022. The TSE said that the terms of cooperation agreed with the organizations do not involve any exchange of financial resources and do not entail any cost to the court.

This will be the first time that the short video app Kwai will participate in the censorship program named Countering Disinformation Program, instituted by TSE in 2019. It has 72 partner entities, which, according to the court, contribute to minimizing the damage of “fake news” that attacks the integrity and credibility of the Brazilian electoral process.

In other words, these partner entities will contribute to minimizing the damage that free speech could have on TSE’s own agenda and interests for the upcoming elections.