the minister of Federal Court of Justice (STF) Luís Roberto Barroso once again commented on the possibility of suspending the telegram in Brazil. Barroso, who is also president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) considers blocking during this year’s elections to be viable. The platform, created by Russians and based in Dubai, ignores any attempts at notification made by the TSE to cooperate in the fight against disinformation.
In an interview with the newspaper O Globo, the minister who “Brazil is not the mother-in-law’s home to have apps that make apology for Nazism, terrorism, sell weapons or host attacks on democracy”. He also states that any platform that does not follow Brazilian rules and is important during the elections can also be suspended.
“No relevant actor in the electoral process can act in the country without being subject to the legislation and determinations of the Brazilian Justice. This goes for any platform.“, he said. “As has been done in other parts of the world, I think that any platform, whatever it is, that does not want to submit to Brazilian laws should simply be suspended. In my house, enter who I want and whoever follows my rules“, he added.
Barroso was asked whether this suspension process is the role of the TSE. He pondered in saying that he prefers the action to be taken by Congress, by measure of law. However, he still left open a decision for justice.
“I think this is a decision that preferably belongs to Congress, where there is already a specific bill saying that, in order to operate here, platforms must have a specific representative and be subject to Brazilian legislation.“, commented. “I think it’s very possible that this request comes in a lawsuit or before the TSE or the Supreme Court. In this case, the court cannot fail to decide it because there is supposedly no specific law. Therefore, we will have to decide, in the form of the Constitution and the laws, if someone can operate in Brazil outside the law.“, he then pointed out.
Attack freedom of expression
Minister Luís Roberto Barroso also countered the criticism he has been receiving after threatening to ban Telegram. But, for him, freedom of expression does not allow what is propagated in the messenger.
“Freedom of expression is not freedom to sell weapons. It is not freedom to propagate terrorism, to apology for Nazism. It is not a space for marginals to attack democracy. Therefore, nobody wants to censor any platform, but there are manifestations that are not legitimate. It is precisely to preserve democracy that we do not want platforms that want to destroy democracy and freedom of expression to be freely here.“, ended the matter.
Fight fake news
Brazilian government bodies such as the TSE, the Federal Police and the Public Ministry are in a real fight against fake news this year of presidential elections. Recently, Twitter announced the arrival of a tool that will allow Brazilian users to report fake news posts on the platform. This happened thanks to the pressure that the social network faced from the community to implement the service.
In addition, the agencies contacted other social networks and messengers, such as Facebook, WhatsApp and TikTok to understand the mechanisms they are making available. All of them have cooperated and answered questions, except Telegram.
…..
Thinking about buying a product online? Discover the Save the Connected World extension for Google Chrome. It is free and offers you price comparisons at major stores and coupons so you can always buy at the best price. Download now.
Via: The globe