The Meta announcement, held this Tuesday (7) by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left users, specialists and even governments on high alert. This issue is so urgent that, this morning, the President of the Republic Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with government ministers to discuss the new guidelines of the company. Now, the fact-checking systemfact-checking) the social media platforms Instagram, Facebook and Threads will officially be discontinued in the United States; and, in the long term, the measure is also expected to be implemented in other countries.
According to the CEO of Meta, the goal is to reduce errors made by the system, that accidentally removed some profiles and posts, and value the freedom of expression of users. In practice, fact-checking will not be completely eliminated, but the "community notes" model will be adopted, similar to that used by X, in which the users themselves add comments to the posts. For the federal government, this new policy is concerning, because it goes against the sovereignty of countries; Lula stated that digital communication must have the same responsibility as other media, like the press.
One of the biggest legal and ethical challenges related to changes in Meta's policy is the possible freedom to discuss discriminatory topics, as gender and race, what are punishable by law in the country. Besides today's meeting, The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) has also demanded explanations from the company, which also owns Whatsapp, to assess the impact of these changes in Brazil. For the CEO of Silva Lopes Advogados and specialist in Business Law, Layon Lopes, the issue is complex, and it can have legal and economic consequences not only for Brazil, but of global order.
– When a large technology company changes its policies, the effects generally go beyond national borders. In Brazil, the challenge is to reconcile freedom of expression with respect for local laws, that seek to protect fundamental rights, how dignity and non-discrimination. This situation requires careful attention and collaboration between governments, companies and society, comment Lopes
Furthermore, the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, also commented on the changes, and stated that social networks may continue to operate if they comply with the laws in force in Brazilian territory. It is worth noting that the beginning of the second semester of 2024 was marked by the clash between the STF and platform X, that culminated in the blocking of the social network after the violation of Brazilian laws.
