Head of Senate: regulation of social networks in Brazil inevitable

Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (Social Democratic Party-PSD, Minas Gerais state), head of the Federal Senate, emphasized the inevitability of regulating social networks in Brazil to eliminate platform discretion.

"What we can contribute to effectively resolving this debate that has been going on for the last few days is to deliver legislative frameworks that are intelligent and efficient in order to be able to discipline the use of these social networks in the country," stated the senator at a press conference on Monday (Apr. 8), following demonstrations by businessman Elon Musk, owner of the social network X, regarding decisions made by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Pacheco emphasizes the necessity of legal discipline on the matter, particularly to avoid situations where the Judiciary is compelled to make decisions regarding social media usage in the absence of governing laws.

"This ends up generating controversies like the one we've seen where the Judiciary needs to act in relation to anti-democratic acts, violations of rights, attacks on democracy and this is interpreted as some kind of censorship or inhibition of freedom of expression," he added.

Pacheco cited the bill on the regulation of digital platforms, which was approved in 2020 in the Senate and is now before the House of Representatives.

"I believe this is crucial; it's not about censorship or constraining freedom of expression. Rather, it's about establishing regulations for the use of digital platforms to prevent indiscriminate mind capture and the dissemination of misinformation, hatred, violence, and attacks on institutions. Digital platforms have a civic responsibility to ensure that their environments do not foster such behavior," he declared.

Another proposal under discussion in Congress is a regulatory framework authored by Senator Rodrigo Pacheco himself, aimed at governing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the country.

The chief minister of the Secretariat for Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, called Musk's attacks on the Supreme Court "inadmissible".

"The most appropriate response Brazil can offer to what I deem an unacceptable attack on the Supreme Court and Brazilian sovereignty is a political-institutional one. This entails providing full support to the Judiciary's efforts in investigating those who exploit social networks for criminal activities. Simultaneously, it involves engaging in the political debate that the National Congress has been fostering," stated Padilha.