The Justice Minister, Flávio Dino, will deliver to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the next few days the proposal for a law that will make internet platforms responsible for the content that violates the rules of the Democratic rule of Law.
According to the text, platforms will have a "duty of care" to prevent the dissemination of content that violates the law, that is, calls for the abolition of the democratic rule of law, encourages violence to overthrow the government, and publicly incites animosity between the Armed Forces and the constitutional powers.
To fulfill the "duty of care", companies will have to submit periodic transparency reports detailing how they have removed or reduced the reach of illegal content and adopted measures to mitigate the risk of dissemination of these publications.
They will also have to remove illegal content using their own rules of use, which in many cases already prohibit publications that incite coup-mongering behavior or lie about the electoral process.
The platform will not be held civilly liable for certain posts in violation. The company will only be fined if there is widespread non-compliance with the 'duty of care'.
The bill adopts the concept denominated "duty of care" provided for in the internet regulation of the European Union, the Digital Services Act (DSA), which comes into force next month, in the Online Safety Act, of the United Kingdom, and in German network regulation.
Now, in the case of a court order to remove content that violates the Democratic Rule of Law, the proposed law provides for rules similar to the resolution adopted by the TSE (Supreme Electoral Court) ten days before the 2022 runoff presidential election.
The resolution establishes a period of two hours after notification for removal of publication, under penalty of a fine of R$ 100,000 to R$ 150,000 per hour of non-compliance.
Translated by Cassy Dias