While the Ministry of Justice is promoting obligations on content moderation and algorithmic transparency, the Ministry of Finance is proposing a framework to supervise competition in the sector. At the same time, two opposition deputies are proposing a regulation focused on user protection
A few days ago, the news broke that Brazil was beginning to discuss a bill for the regulation of digital platforms, promoted by the Ministry of Justice and prepared by the Secretariat of Digital Rights (SEDIGI). A few days later, a new bill was added, this time promoted by the Ministry of Finance.
Unlike the SEDIGI bill, which seeks to establish what the obligations of the platforms should be for the elimination of illicit publications and to confront disinformation and hate speech, the bill presented by the Treasury is aimed at the social media platform market and addresses economic and competitive aspects.
The text mainly expands the competence of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) to investigate and define new obligations for companies. The idea is to prevent, for example, potential monopolies in the provision of services, advertising or search engines, and other forms of abuse of power in the digital environment.
The body, according to the text under discussion, will be in charge of classifying companies as “systemically relevant”, considering aspects such as market power, access to large volumes of relevant personal and commercial data, income and a significant number of users. One of the models considered as a reference is the Digital Markets Act (DMA) of the European Union. The Treasury considers it is necessary to change legislation and practice in competition law, as well as to adopt of new pro-competitive regulatory tools.
The two projects are not isolated efforts and there are various other initiatives promoted by different sectors of the Brazilian State to increase control, supervision, transparency and accountability of the companies that own digital platforms. An interesting fact: In Brazil, according to a Nexus survey, “six out of ten Brazilians support greater control over social media companies”.
A regulatory project from the opposition
In addition to the Justice and Finance projects, opposition deputies Silas Câmara and Dani Cunha presented bill 4691/2024, which some consider a viable alternative to regulate social media, after PL 2630 was shelved in 2023 following pressure from the platforms. “Aiming to gain the support of the right, the text focuses more on guaranteeing freedom of expression than on punishing and holding social media accountable,” according to the newspaper Estadão, since “Bolsonaro supporters have used the argument that regulation could supposedly restrict people’s right to express themselves on the internet –since the discussion involves content moderation and combating the proliferation of disinformation and hate speech– to criticize attempts to impose control and supervision on these companies”.
Certain sectors of the government would be willing to support the project, according to the Secretary of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, because “it is closer to reaching the consensus necessary for its approval.” The technical sector, for its part, “distrusts the parliamentarians’ proposal” because of the role they assign to Anatel, which they say “is influenced by the large telephone operators and … poorly viewed by the population.” The text establishes the Law for the Protection of Constitutional Freedoms and Fundamental Rights and designates Anatel as the competent authority to regulate the platforms, together with the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD).
The opposition’s proposal targets companies whose active user base corresponds to at least 5% of the Brazilian population (equivalent to 10 million people), which includes the world’s principal social networks.
The status of the new official project
Regarding the project promoted by the Justice portfolio, it seeks to establish what the obligations of these companies should be regarding eliminating illegal content and confronting the massive disinformation and hate speech that they themselves amplify, in addition to imposing obligations of algorithmic transparency and content moderation policies.
The working group created to centralize the discussions involves members of the Civil House, the Treasury, the MJSP, the Secretariat of Social Communication (Secom), the Secretariat of Institutional Relations (SRI), the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), the Comptroller General’s Office (CGU) and the Communications Directorate.
The biggest impasse in the group concerns the scope that the regulation should have. While the Court proposes to reach all digital service providers, which would include streaming platforms and marketplaces, delivery applications and fintechs, the Treasury wants to restrict the scope. The assessment is that a broad regulation would require even more articulation and dialogue to approve the project, which could stall it.
In addition, the creation of two categories of obligations for companies affected by the project is being discussed: general obligations (for all digital services) and specific obligations for large companies (services with a mass audience, such as social networks). This would allow the legislation to classify the so-called “large technology companies” more strictly.
The Planalto Palace said that the proposals are in the internal discussion phase and that so far there have been no “definitions of the government’s position on substantial and meritorious issues”.
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