Twitter won’t remove content supporting school attacks in Brazil

Apr 11, 2023 18:20 3 min read

Twitter has refused to remove content that promotes attacks in Brazilian schools, such as photos and names of perpetrators of massacres, images of mutilated children, and songs that encourage attacks.

It made its refusal known during a Monday meeting with the Justice Ministry, news site G1 first reported.

Twitter said that releasing photos and the names of perpetrators of attacks on schools does not violate the platform’s rules. Experts, however, warn that allowing such content to spread can create a “contagion effect.” Evidence suggests that many perpetrators model their attacks on previous incidents, and often appear to desire publicity and recognition.

During the meeting with representatives of YouTube, Meta, Twitter, Kwai, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Google, the government asked the platforms to find more effective ways of fighting hate speech, violence and threats to schools.

The meeting followed a recent wave of violent attacks on schools in Brazil — the most recent of which left four pre-school children dead last week — and comes amid a wider debate on social media regulation in the country.

Justice Minister Flávio Dino was reportedly annoyed by Twitter’s stance, noting that “the terms of use of the platform” are not more important than the Constitution or the lives of children and adolescents.

Government officials say they have been in contact with Twitter since last Friday, asking for the removal of these harmful posts. More than 511 violent profiles were identified over the weekend, but Twitter only deleted accounts with concrete threats of attack.

As The Brazilian Report showed last week, the “true-crime community” is very active in Brazil, with a focus on platforms used by young people, such as TikTok and Twitter. Unlike what happens in the U.S., however, these extremist groups do not use these social networks to recruit attackers.

Mr. Dino has said he will formally notify companies and request that the Federal Police investigate platforms that do not help fight threats against schools on social networks.

As a result of Twitter’s position, this Tuesday the platform was dominated by posts from Brazilian personalities questioning its stance. One of Brazil’s biggest influencers, Felipe Neto, who has 16.2 million followers, launched the hashtag “#TwitterApoiaMassacres,” or “Twitter Supports Massacres,” which has been widely shared.

The platform has no press office in Brazil, and since the end of March, it has responded to emails sent to [email protected] with a feces emoji.