Brazil Senate takes down president’s decree limiting platforms’ power over content
The Brazilian Senate voted against president Bolsonaro’s decree limiting social platforms’ power to remove content. Bolsonaro’s temporary decree, which required congressional approval to become law, was highly criticized by tech firms. Bolsonaro alleged that the decree aimed at defending freedom of speech and combating ‘arbitrary removal’ of accounts, profiles and content during a major political rally on 7 September. The supreme court has probed fake news in the country and tried to make tech players such as Facebook and YouTube to support in the fight against the spread of misinformation. In August 2021, YouTube suspended payments to content producers from 14 channels that were charged and faced trials for spreading fake news about next year’s election.
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