Brazil expresses concern over Meta’s changes to content moderation | Social Media News

Brazil’s attorney general says Meta’s move to loosen restrictions on hate speech could be against the country’s laws.

Brazilian authorities have expressed “serious concern” over a recent announcement by social media giant Meta. make their policies easier limiting inflammatory speech and fact-checking.

In a statement on Tuesday, Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office (AGU) said it would seek further information from Meta, adding that the policy change may not comply with Brazilian law.

“Some points contained in the meta-document raise serious concerns. “Currently, the changes reported by Meta do not comply with Brazilian legislation and are not sufficient to protect the fundamental rights of citizens,” the office said in a statement.

last week, Metawhich owns platforms like Facebook and Instagram, has canceled the third party fact-checking programon the basis that it becomes a “censorship tool”.

The company also said it would remove restrictions on rhetoric that could be seen as hostile toward groups such as immigrants and LGBTQ people.

“We’re getting rid of a number of restrictions on issues like immigration, gender identity and gender that are often the subject of political discourse and debate,” Meta said. statement. “It’s not right to say everything on television or in the halls of Congress, not on our platforms.”

The move away from fact-checking comes just weeks after US President-elect Donald Trump took office on January 20. Trump has repeatedly criticized social media platforms for being biased.

Meta said in a follow-up letter that the fact-checking changes would apply only within the United States and that changes to community standards were “limited” by the hate speech policy.

“AGU and other ministries understand that the current terms of use, as well as the changes now issued by Meta, do not comply with Brazilian law and are not sufficient to protect fundamental rights,” Brazil’s attorney general’s office said.

Brazil has become a flashpoint for debate over freedom of expression and the responsibility of social media giants to curb hate speech and the spread of false claims on their platforms. Government authorities there have previously clashed with the powerful tech tycoon Elon Musk and his formerly known social media company X Like Twitteron questions about content moderation.

President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also signed a bill banning the use of smartphones at school on Monday.

This policy is unrelated to content moderation and is in line with the global trend of restrictions on the use of phones by young children in academic settings. A survey released in October by Brazilian pollster Datafolha found that nearly two-thirds of respondents favored such restrictions.

“We cannot allow humanity to be replaced by algorithms,” Lula said at a closed ceremony at the presidential palace in the capital, Brazil.