Report from the >New York Times
In Brief – Amidst a tariff standoff with the Trump Administration that includes accusations from President Trump and various US conservatives that critics of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his backers in the judiciary are being persecuted and silenced online, the Brazilian Government is talking with top US digital companies about changes made to the country’s digital platform liability laws. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is at the center of a series of high court actions targeting former President Bolsonaro, Brazilian conservative activists, and digital platforms that do not block their online activity, is a focus of US Government criticism. While President Lula criticizes what he calls interference with Brazilian sovereignty and its judicial processes, government officials are discussing with the digital companies potential modifications to the changes that Justice Moraes and the court have made to the country’s online liability law.
Context – Of course, President Trump’s relationship with Bolsonaro is key here, but don’t miss the broad policies involved. As we often note, opposition to online censorship of conservative populists is the most unifying digital policy concern of US conservatives, including in foreign markets. The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) or the UK Online Safety Act (OSA) will raise similar issues if used to compel platforms to combat alleged right-wing misinformation or election interference. The European Commission’s DSA investigation of X is a likely friction point, and UK populists are already criticizing OSA rules. The digital policy discussion in Brazil involves changes that have been made to the Marco Civil da Internet by the country’s Supreme Court, not the national legislature. That Internet bill of rights was enacted in 2014 and was widely lauded by civil libertarians for promoting free speech online. Yes, Elon Musk has been involved in a long-running battle with Justice Moraes, repeatedly coming out on the losing side, but X is also engaged in a long-running legal battle in India challenging the Modi Government’s efforts to clamp down on online criticism of government officials and policies. So, it’s not always Right v Left.