Brazil says Meta getting rid of factcheckers is ‘bad for democracy’

The decision by the social media giant Meta to end factchecking in the United States is “bad for democracy”, Brazil’s newly appointed communication minister, Sidonio Palmeira, said on Wednesday.

Meta’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, stunned many with his announcement on Tuesday that he was pulling the plug on factchecking at Facebook and Instagram in the US, citing concerns about political bias.

Palmeira said Meta’s decision was “bad for democracy because [without factchecking] you don’t control the spread of hate, misinformation and fake news”.

“That’s the problem. We need to have control, we need to regulate social media, that’s what’s happening in Europe,” he added.

Zuckerberg also slammed what he called censorship in Europe and Latin America, leaving many countries wondering if they will be next.

Brazil’s public prosecutor’s office sent a letter to local Meta representatives giving the company 30 days to clarify whether it intends to implement the changes in the country, with detailed information.

Instead of professional factchecking, Zuckerberg will shift the responsibility of debunking falsehoods to ordinary users under a model known as “community notes”, popularized by Twitter/X. Experts have warned that ending the factchecking program opens the floodgates for harmful misinformation.

Brazil’s supreme court has taken a strong stance on regulating social media platforms.

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Last year, it blocked Elon Musk’s X platform for 40 days for failing to comply with a series of court orders against online disinformation.

On Wednesday, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, raised the scourge of disinformation during a ceremony marking two years since supporters of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro stormed the seats of power in Brasilia.

“We defend, and will always defend freedom of expression. But we will not tolerate hate speech and disinformation, which endanger people’s lives and incite violence against the rule of law,” Lula said.