Brazilian Superior Electoral Court Considers Group to Monitor Fake News During 2018 Election

11/01/2017 - 11h26

The Brazilian Superior Electoral Court (TSE) is considering the creation of a work group to assess, during the 2018 election, the so-called "fake news" published on the internet.

The information was published by the newspaper "O Estado de S. Paulo".

The TSE is concerned about the impact this type of fraud may have on voters' decisions.

On Tuesday (31), defense minister, Raul Jungmann, stated the army could help monitor fake news through CCOMGEX (Communications and Electronic Warfare Center of the Brazilian Army), but that the matter is being assessed by a technical area.

The communications command is linked to the Department of Science and Technology of the Army.

According to a statement issued on October 25, the TSE decided to create "work groups to analyze security measures in order to guarantee voters' freedom to vote."

At the time, the court stated it should "make an agreement with the technology department for the Ministry of Defense and use other subsidies to monitor the process."

However, it is still unclear how this would work and what kind of technology could be used to track fake news.

The TSE's concern results from recent election campaigns in other countries, such as the US and France.

Translated by ANA BEATRIZ DEMARIA

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