Arthur Lira, Brazil’s House Speaker, and Edson Fachin, the country’s chief electoral justice, signed an agreement on Tuesday to curb the spread of misinformation ahead of the 2022 elections.
The two congressional chambers committed themselves to launching awareness programs to educate citizens about the illegality of disinformation in the electoral process – as well as to encourage people to report questionable content. The 60-month agreement also binds Congress to defend the integrity of the electoral process and reinforce the reliability of Brazil’s fully electronic voting system – both of which are under constant attack from President Jair Bolsonaro.
However, Congress’ commitment to curbing disinformation must be taken with a grain of salt. The House is also set to vote on a so-called “Fake News bill”, which holds provisions that would guarantee lawmakers immunity from prosecution for anything they publish on social media.
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