Telegram warns of “attack on democracy” by law against disinformation in Brazil

the courier service Telegram warned this Tuesday that “democracy is under attack in Brazil”, due to a bill against online disinformation defended by the government of Lulawho threatened to take “legal measuresagainst the platform.

“Brazil is close to passing a law that will end freedom of expression”, says the company in a message broadcast on its platform about the initiative, whose vote in Congress has been postponed without a date.

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According to the statement, the projectgives government censorship powers without prior judicial oversight”.

Therefore, it is “one of the most dangerous legislation contemplated in Brazil”, contrary to fundamental human rights, indicates the text.

The complaint of Telegram joins publications of Google a week ago on his site, warning that the legislation could “worsen“internet and”increase confusion about what is true or false in Brazil”.

The government, which then forced Google to remove the messages, accusing it of “misleading and abusive advertising”, He also attacked the messaging service.

“Incredible! Telegram disrespects Brazilian laws and uses its platform for misleading advertising (…). Legal action will be taken”, wrote on Twitter the Minister of Social Communication, paulo pepper.

“No foreign company is above the sovereignty of our country”, he added.

The Minister of Justice, flavio dinoalso announced legal action against “that empire of lies and aggressions”.

In his message, Telegram calls on Internet users to talk to the deputies to get involved and change the situation.

Telegram has faced problems in Brazil. On April 27, the court ordered the suspension of the service for failing to provide the authorities with data requested from neo-Nazi groups that allegedly operate on the platform, within the framework of an investigation related to violence in schools in the country.

Two days later, the ruling was reversed by a second instance judge, who found the decision unreasonable.

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The fake news bill was introduced three years ago in an effort to deal with the onslaught of misinformation online and has already passed the Senate.

But it gained notoriety recently, after supporters of the former president Jair Bolsonaro invaded the headquarters of the three powers in Brasilia on January 8, allegedly prompted by disinformation on the internet, which claimed that Lula had fraudulently defeated the far-right at the polls in October 2022.

In his tweet, Dino questioned Telegram: “What do they want? Provoke another January 8?”.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.