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President Lula confronts Mark Zuckerberg in a public statement, addressing issues related to social networks. Understand the details of this speech and its possible implications.
The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) criticized Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, during a speech at the Planalto Palace this Thursday (9). In response to the company's decision to end its fact-checking program, Lula sent a direct message to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
"As if a citizen could be punished for doing something in real life and could not be punished for doing the same thing in digital. What we really want is for each country to have its sovereignty protected. One citizen, two citizens, three citizens cannot think that they can violate the sovereignty of a nation.“, He completed.
The president's speech comes amid strategic changes in the company's digital communications and tensions between large technology platforms and governments in different countries.
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Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday (7) the end of Meta's fact-checking model, signaling a change in its approach to content moderation.
Meta Decision: A Global Breakthrough
Meta stated that, from now on, users will have greater autonomy to correct and comment on posts with potentially false information, similar to what happens on X (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk.
During the announcement, Mark Zuckerberg criticized what he called “secret courts" in Latin America, referring to court decisions that, according to him, arbitrarily remove content. Although he did not mention Brazil directly, the statement was interpreted as a reference to the Supreme Federal Court (STF).
The decision also gained attention for its political connection in the United States. Meta's CEO revealed that he will work in partnership with President-elect Donald Trump to resist governments that, according to him, “pressure American companies for more censorship".
Lula and the context of digital communication in Brazil
Lula said that Meta’s decision is serious. “I'm going to hold a meeting today to discuss the Meta issue. I think it's extremely serious that people don't want digital communication to have the same responsibility as the guy who commits a crime in the press.“, said the president.
Furthermore, the Brazilian government is currently restructuring its communications department. Paulo Pimenta will be replaced by Sidonio Palmeira as Secretary of Social Communication (Secom).
STF reacts to Mark's speech
Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, also took a stand against Mark Zuckerberg's recent statements.
During an event at the Supreme Court, Moraes said that big techs cannot be used as tools for hate speech or collaboration with extremist groups.In Brazil, they will only continue to operate if they respect Brazilian legislation, regardless of the bravado of big tech executives.“, said the magistrate.
Clash between Meta and the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet
The Supreme Federal Court is in the midst of a critical trial involving the Internet Civil Rights Framework, which defines the responsibilities of digital platforms in relation to content published by third parties.
Meta, in turn, has defended a “balanced solution” that avoids regulatory excesses.
Network regulation and the new global policy
Meta's decision to end fact-checking reflects a more aggressive stance against global regulations. Zuckerberg justified the move as a defense of free speech.
This new positioning is part of a scenario of growing challenges for large technology companies, which face stricter regulations in countries such as Brazil, the European Union and India.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Trump's support reinforces the polarized political environment in which these companies operate.
Meta and its influence in Brazil
Although it has positioned itself as an ally in critical periods, such as the Brazilian elections, Meta is now facing more rigorous scrutiny.
The change in its fact-checking policy and the criticism of the STF show a break with the collaboration model adopted until then.
This tension could directly impact how the platform will be perceived by the public and the government.
Lula needs to retire urgently! Brazil is running a huge risk with an elderly man who sometimes doesn't make sense. To make matters worse, his wife swore at him as 'Musk', in a ****ing and out of context situation. It seems she was under the influence of alcohol.
I'm starting to think that all this desperation they have regarding social media is to hide some dirt on them because out of nowhere their concern has turned to social media.
I've been using the internet since 2003 or so, but it was only at the beginning of Facebook and Orkut that people were already criticizing and no one cared. People were already spreading lies and truths and no one cared. Now these guys want to control what people can and cannot say.
I agree that spreading hate or defaming a person is not a good thing, but they are not worried if someone speaks badly of me or spreads lies about me, they are doing this to prevent people from criticizing them.