The TSE (Supreme Electoral Court) approved this Thursday (20) a resolution to toughen action against fake news on social media. The content of the rule was revealed by Folha the day before.
The justices unanimously decided to ban paid electoral advertising on the internet, such as ads, monetization, and content boosting, in the period that begins 48 hours before voting day and ends 24 hours after the runoff. This type of advertising must be removed immediately by the networks, under the risk of a fine of R$100,000 to R$150,000 per hour for non-compliance with the decisions.
In addition, a new rule was also created to increase the difficulty of spreading content considered fraudulent or offensive by the court. The resolution was proposed by the Chief Justice of the TSE, Alexandre de Moraes, who expands his own powers with the text. He may, among other things, determine the suspension of access to the services of a platform that fails to comply with court decisions.
The resolution also dropped from a minimum of 24 hours to up to 2 hours the deadline for social networks to remove fake news after court rulings. This period will be even shorter, 1 hour, between 48 hours before the voting period and 3 days after the election.
The approved text authorizes the court to order the suspension of social media accounts of those who "systematically" produce misinformation. The TSE empowered the court president to "determine the suspension of access to the services of the platform" that repeatedly fails to comply with the rules provided for in the new resolution. The text does not, however, detail what characterizes "repeated non-compliance".
Translated by Cassy Dias