The advancement of proposals that expand the civil liability of digital platforms in Brazil has reignited the debate on the boundaries between content moderation and censorship. On June 26, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) decided by 8 votes to 3 that platforms operating social networks should be directly held responsible for illegal posts made by their users. In response, Google publicly admitted that it may reduce its operations in the country if the STF “drastically changes” moderation rules, a statement that raised alarms in the digital market.
With 144 million active Brazilians on social networks, according to the DataReportal platform, any changes in this scenario directly affect the routine of small advertisers, content creators, and startups that use platforms for marketing, sales, and customer acquisition. The impact goes beyond freedom of expression; the end of Article 19 of the Civil Framework of the Internet could pave the way for a system of preventive censorship and incentives for excessive content removal, the so-called chilling effect. For digital companies, this represents legal uncertainty and the risk of retraction by major players, as already signaled by Google.
In the assessment by Lucas Mantovani, co-founder of SAFIE, a leading company in legal solutions for technology companies, startups, and digital businesses, and an expert in startup legal governance and data protection, holding platforms accountable prior to a judicial decision could compromise fundamental principles in networks. “Holding platforms accountable before a judicial decision compromises fundamental principles such as network neutrality and due process. This transfers to the private sector the power, and fear, of deciding what can or cannot remain online”, he analyzes. “There are more effective alternatives, such as strengthening notification and removal mechanisms with swift judicial supervision, already adopted in consolidated democracies”, he concludes.
With the global legaltech market surpassing US$26 billion, according to the Global Legal Tech Market report, the specialist points out that Brazil needs to ensure legal security and predictability to continue attracting innovation and investments in the digital ecosystem. “Without a stable and coherent regulatory environment aligned with democratic principles, Brazil risks driving away investors and inhibiting the development of local technological solutions. Legal predictability allows startups to innovate safely and for the digital ecosystem to continue generating value for the economy and society”, says Lucas Mantovani.
