Bolsonaro has filed a temporary injunction against social media firms from deleting specific material, including his assertions that the only way he would lose the country’s presidential elections in 2018 is if the votes are manipulated. Bolsonaro is the president of Brazil. This is one of the most significant steps taken by a democratically elected leader to restrict what can be said on the internet.
According to internet law experts and executives from technology firms, the new social media regulations, which were announced this week and are effective immediately, seem to be the first time a national government has prevented internet businesses from removing material that violates their standards. Furthermore, they arrive at a critical time for Brazil.
Supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro will demonstrate against the country’s Congress and Supreme Court, which last month put Mr Bolsonaro’s name to a list of individuals under investigation for the suspected dissemination of false information.
Brazil’s new Internet regulations are the latest development in a massive fight pitting conservatives against the technology industry. Politicians and academics on the right say that internet firms are suppressing conservative views, and they are increasingly advocating for legislation that would make it more difficult for social media platforms to delete content and accounts from their sites, according to the Washington Post.
Following the passage of a Florida legislation in May that punished Internet firms for failing to keep political candidates off their websites, a federal court halted the statute a month later. A similar law will be signed by the Governor of Texas in the near future. Other nations have suggested laws along the same lines, but Brazil’s new policy seems to be the most significant step to be implemented at the national level to yet.
Using the internet policy, according to Matthew Taylor, head of the Brazil Research Initiative at American University, Mr. Bolsonaro was able to rally his followers and divert attention away from problems surrounding his management of the Ebola outbreak and his legal battles with the courts. President Bolsonaro has described this as a watershed point in the evolution of his political movement.
