Telegram moves against Fake News Bill

Photo: Wichayada Suwanachun/Shutterstock

The messaging app Telegram sent a message to users in Brazil this Tuesday claiming that the Fake News Bill, which proposes stricter regulation of social media platforms, messaging apps, and search engines in the country, “will kill the modern internet,” “put an end to freedom of expression,” and give the government “censorship powers without prior judicial oversight.”

The text of the bill, which was due to be voted on last week but was postponed amid a lack of consensus, does not give the government or any other body the prerogative to censor content.

It assigns responsibility to Big Tech companies to combat content that constitutes crimes such as racism, pedophilia, or attacks on democracy. If they do not fulfill their obligations, companies could be subjected to sanctions, ranging from fines to suspensions.

The message was published on the Telegram Brasil channel, used for the company’s official communications. The platform encourages users to put pressure on lawmakers to vote against the bill, and sends a page with contact numbers of all parliamentarians.

The company also threatens to stop operating in Brazil if the bill is approved.

Just after the spread of the message, the São Paulo Prosecutor Yuri Corrêa da Luz ordered Telegram to say who is responsible for making the decision, for an eventual hearing by the prosecution office.

“Platforms continue to use their reach to act against the public interest. Today Telegram has given us a clear attempt to interfere in the democratic debate and a clear demonstration of abuse of power. These abuses make it clear why regulation is necessary,” said Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, the government leader in Congress.

Telegram saw its user base increase in Brazil over three consecutive years during the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who along with other far-right politicians preferred the platform over other messaging apps.

The app was downloaded on 13 percent of Brazilian mobile phones in 2019, a number which jumped to over 60 percent in 2022. In February 2023, the number of frequent users had dropped to 43 percent.

A few weeks ago, at the end of April, Telegram was suspended for three days in Brazil after the company failed to collaborate with an investigation into neo-Nazi groups that used the platform to communicate.

Telegram’s text against the Fake News Bill comes a week after Google used the same strategy to criticize the proposed legislation. The platform presented a link on its homepage saying that “The fake news bill could make your internet worse” — later changed to “The fake news bill could increase confusion about what is true or false in Brazil.” The Justice Ministry’s consumer defense department, as well as prosecutors in São Paulo, considered that the move went “beyond the usual tactics in public debate.”

These moves are some of many by Big Tech companies against the bill, which include intense lobbying with Brazilian congressmen and other ad campaigns. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered that the Federal Police hear the presidents of Google, Facebook parent company Meta, music platform Spotify, and conservative production company Brasil Paralelo, for them to explain the crusade against the bill.

The Brazilian Report explained the main points of the bill in a recent Brazil Daily newsletter and also published an exclusive interview between our Brasília correspondent Cedê Silva and the bill’s rapporteur.

Amanda Audi

Amanda Audi is a journalist specializing in politics and human rights. She is the former executive director of Congresso em Foco and worked as a reporter for The Intercept Brasil, Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo, Gazeta do Povo, Poder360, among others. In 2019, she won the Comunique-se Award for best-written media reporter and won the Mulher Imprensa award for web journalism in 2020