The announcement by Meta, made this Tuesday (7) by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left users, experts and even governments on 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 company's new guidelines. Now, the fact -checking of the social media platforms Instagram, Facebook and Threads will be officially discontinued in the United States; and, in the long term, the measure is also expected to be applied in other countries.
According to Meta's CEO, the goal is to reduce errors made by the system, which accidentally removed some profiles and posts, and to uphold users' freedom of expression. In practice, fact-checking will not be completely eliminated, but a "community notes" model will be adopted, similar to that used by X, where users themselves add observations to posts. For the federal government, this new policy is worrying because it goes against the sovereignty of countries; Lula even stated that digital communication should have the same responsibility as other media, such as the press.
One of the biggest legal and ethical challenges related to the changes in Meta's policy is the potential freedom to discuss discriminatory topics, such as gender and race, which are criminal offenses in the country. In addition to today's meeting, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) has also demanded explanations from the company, which also owns WhatsApp, to assess the impact of these changes in Brazil. According to Layon Lopes, CEO of Silva Lopes Advogados and a specialist in business law, the issue is complex and could have legal and economic consequences not only for Brazil, but globally.
– When a large technology company changes its policies, the effects often extend beyond national borders. In Brazil, the challenge lies in reconciling freedom of expression with respect for local laws, which seek to protect fundamental rights such as dignity and non-discrimination. This situation demands careful attention and collaboration between governments, companies, and society, comments Lopes.
Furthermore, Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes also commented on the changes, stating that social media networks can continue to operate as long as they respect the laws in force in Brazilian territory. It's worth remembering that the beginning of the second half of 2024 was marked by a clash between the STF and the X platform, which culminated in the blocking of the social network after it violated Brazilian laws.
