A judge of the supreme court of Brazil ordered this Friday to open an investigation against those responsible for Google and Telegram in the country, due to the “abusive campaign” of technology firms to defeat a bill that seeks to combat misinformation.
“I determine the establishment of an investigation of the directors and other managers of Google Brazil and Telegram Brazil who have participated in the abusive campaign against the bill,” wrote the magistrate of the Federal Supreme Court Alexandre Moraes in his ruling.
The judge ordered the Federal Police to summon to declare, within an initial period of 60 days, those responsible for both companies in Brazil, opposed to the leftist government Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a bitter debate over the controversial initiative.
Inspired by the Digital Services Act (DSA) recently approved in the European Union (EU), the legislation was introduced in 2020 to deal with a deluge of misinformation online and is currently awaiting a vote in the Chamber of Deputies.
It gained notoriety recently, after supporters of the former president Jair Bolsonaro invaded the headquarters of the three powers in Brasilia on January 8, allegedly incited by disinformation on the networks, which claimed that Lula had fraudulently defeated the far-right in the 2022 elections.
The text of the project obliges the platforms to increase their transparency, and to combat violent content and that threaten democracy and elections, children, adolescents and public health.
Among other opponents, Bolsonaro condemns the project: “The beginning of the end of our freedom,” he defined.
Technology companies are also against the initiative that would impose fines of up to 10% of their billing, or the temporary suspension of their services.
Google claimed it would lead to “excessive moderation,” while Telegram sent a message to its millions of users in Brazil, warning that “democracy is under attack” and that the project “gives the government censorship powers.”
Moraes had already attacked the platforms for their campaign against the initiative.
On Wednesday it ordered Telegram to delete its illegal message or suspend its operations, accusing the messaging company of spreading “blatant and unlawful misinformation.”
That messaging service had already been suspended for three days in Brazil, in the framework of another investigation related to violence in schools.
For its part, Google was accused by Brazil’s Justice Minister, Flávio Dino, of “manipulating” search results by highlighting content opposed to the bill, something the company denied.
And the consumer protection office ordered the company to balance its messages against the initiative with “counter-propaganda,” or face a fine of one million reais (about $200,000) an hour.
