BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian House of Commons President Rodrigo Maia said Tuesday that lawmakers were finalising the text of an invoice aimed at funding attacks on “false information” on social media sites, adding that it could be voted on later this year.
The Brazilian bill was approved in the Senate on June 30, but the reduction in space generated a functioning organization to propose amendments. These adjustments will be completed in two weeks, Maia said.
President Jair Bolsonaro opposes the bill.
“In 2019, the radical movements that the president has created their own dynamics, and I have no doubt that they will go out to influence (in public opinion),” said Maia, opponent of Brazil’s right-wing president. without transparent rules, they will have a very significant impact. “
Maia said a recent investigation by brazil’s Supreme Court into social media attacks on its members had already helped such teams worry about prosecution.
The Supreme Court has suspended 16 accounts and 12 pages of virtual influencers that Bolsonaro has on social media, adding politicians, businessmen and political activists with Twitter and Facebook accounts.
“The (social media) platforms will say they have no responsibility, but like any means of communication, they will also have to create a path to accountability,” Maia said in a webinar organized through the Get-lo Vargas Foundation.
In the run-up to this year’s Brazilian local elections, Maia said Brazil punishes others who use social media to try to silence and threaten others.
(Reporting through Lisandra Paraguassu; written through Ana Mano; edited through Paul Simao)
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