Minister of Justice highlights the importance of digital regulation in inauguration of the Media and Democracy Council
“In order to build a political majority that is able and effective, we need to advance regulation in Brazil.
“In order to build a political majority that is able and effective, we need to advance regulation in Brazil. I repeat that, before it is too late”, warned the Minister of Justice Flávio Dino during the inauguration of the Media and Democracy Council in a virtual meeting this Wednesday, June 28.
The council is part of the Media and Democracy project, an initiative of the European Union Delegation and the School of Communication, Media and Information at FGV, and has two more work fronts, namely social media monitoring and analysis and information checking, in a collaboration between FGV, Agência Lupa and the German center for analysis of the public debate Democracy Reporting International (DRI). This space for digital debate is composed of 25 organizations and entities working to defend the rights of different segments and agendas, monitoring, proposing and contributing with the digital environment against disinformation and supporting the integrity of democracy.
The virtual meeting had two different moments: the opening address with the inauguration of the Council and the plenary meeting, which produced statements and consensual points in order to bring to light important issues related to the debate regarding the regulation of digital environments.
The coordinator of the project at FGV ECMI, Amaro Grassi, gave a welcome and explained the details of the initiative and the specific purposes of the council.
Afterwards, the EU ambassador in Brazil, Ignacio Ybáñez, highlighted that there is a common interest for the benefit of citizenship that Brazil and the European Union work together and share good practices, including the regulation of digital platforms and aspects related to illegal digital content and disinformation.
“We want to build strong digital international partnerships with partners that share this same approach based on human beings for digital transformation as a fundamental pillar of our commitment. That is why we recently installed the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Digital Alliance, which will address the cooperation in digital transformation and innovation with these countries”, said the ambassador. Ybáñez also mentioned the development of two basic laws that work as inspiration and as benchmarks for democratic governments over the world: the digital services law and the digital markets law. In this context, the ambassador reiterated the potential of the cooperation between the European Union in Brazil for achieving solutions in this complex political and regulatory framework.
Representing the members of the council, the researcher for the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Democracia Digital and coordinator of the organization Desinformante, Nina Santos, highlighted that the Council is composed of people and organizations who have done very important work and participated in many discussions related to digital communication, focusing on fact checking, media education, the production of quality information, the ongoing monitoring and production of data, as well as discussions regarding the development of an ethical advertising system, the search for legal and regulatory solutions, and digital impacts. Nina mentioned three challenges, but said the most urgent one is to build an ample, structured and democratic regulation of digital platforms to ensure and expand rights and strengthen citizen participation.
“A second challenge that I think is worth mentioning is facing the issues in our society that gain new connotations in the digital world, but do not originate in it and will not be resolved by only regulating digital platforms. Racism is an example; as we know, it comes together with a series of other issues, and I would like to highlight that understanding these social, cultural and historical elements that compose our territory and are transformed in the digital world, but are not limited to it, is absolutely essential in order to advance”, said the researcher. The third challenge would be to strengthen a digital space that follows different logics than just the construction of a digital space, based on a commercial, North-centric, unequal logic, which has dominated the networks.
Minister Flávio Dino began his talk mentioning the vote of the TSE Minister Benedito Gonçalves, given last Tuesday during the decision on the ineligibility of former president Bolsonaro. The minister believes this vote has a far reach, because it could also work as a precedent for institutional debates and in the context of civil society, since disinformation and fake news transformed in tools to build political hegemony are likely to face consequences even in terms of sanctions, which would be a novelty in Brazil.
“What is this assessment in the TSE? It is certainly one of the first in which we will have a significant sanction for a political agent. There have been others; as a matter of fact, we had an impeachment. We had some people who have been called to respond to inquiries and criminal proceedings, but, without a doubt, this case is very significant and emblematic. With it, the now daily occurrences of multiple crimes against children and teenagers through social media or digital media reveal once more that we are facing a serious and urgent issue, and that is the perception I bring. That is my political practice at the Ministry of Justice. Every day, I try to emphasize not only how essential and indispensable it is to find new normative frameworks for these issues, but also how urgent and pressing this is”, warned the minister.
Regarding the discussion on the Brazilian Law of Freedom, Responsibility and Transparency on the Internet – Bill 2630 –, Dino believes there is a reductionist debate around the ideas of freedom of speech and censorship. “This is typical of the conundrum we are going through. It is the end of a global hegemony and the construction of other global hegemonies. That produces a series of perplexities, including in the axiological terrain of ideological value”.
Considering the democratic risks that a new virtual scenario helps produce in the pattern of consumerism and the market of ideas, Flávio Dino believes regulation is urgent, and admits it is not a simple task since it is not happening in an ideal environment, but in a real environment that is full of contradiction.
Obstacles for the debate on Bill 2630
According to him, there are three obstacles for the debate on Bill 2630. The first obstacle is the action of business owners. “The business owners are not neutral. The business owners, the owners of the arena where we are fighting, are against us. It is as if we started a soccer match and the owner of the playfield made it so that our terrain is bumpy and hostile, while others may walk on a green, smooth and friendly field”, he argued. “The promotions might be the most obvious form, but my hypothesis is that there are also surreptitious mechanisms to be investigated further. It is a matter of opinion formation”, he said.
The second obstacle, in the minister’s opinion, is the ability of the right wing to simplify debates. “So how did they attack us in that moment? Do you want censorship? And do you want to prohibit the bible? That is it. That was the narrative, as absurd and abject as it was. This narrative circulates faster than ours, which is always permeated by many nuances”, he explained.
The third obstacle for regulation seen by Dino are aspects of the parliament itself. “The current Brazilian parliament – the real one that exists and I can see from my window – is not exactly receptive to the ideas that we represent historically, among which is that we need rules to contain the law of the jungle. We have many adepts of the law of the jungle. That is the political game. And they are represented in parliament”, he said.
Considering this context, Flávio Dino emphasized that insistence and perseverance are required on two major fronts. The first is to seek urgent interference.
“Are we going to stop the wheel of history because this scientific and technological revolution will be disastrous for hour interests? If we cannot stop the wheel of history because it is impossible, at least we can slow it down”, he defended.
Flávio Dino indicated that one of the issues today is in the contrast between the quality and speed of technological change and the speed of institutional decision-making. For that reason, he holds to the idea that strong regulation is essential. “Therefore, we must reaffirm this path the whole time, even if that is a utopic attempt to deter the wheel of history. If we do not do that, we will lose”.
Besides insisting that it is necessary to persevere in the fight for regulatory frameworks, Dino also called attention to a second issue, which is who will do it. He said he is not sure whether this should be a role of the parliament.
From a political point of view, Flávio Dino said there will be a new attempt in the second semester. “I am dedicated to that myself. I have talked to other colleagues in the government in order to try and bring back this debate in the second semester”. Dino believes that once the economic agenda and the approval of the tax framework are solved, there will be space to bring back the debate on regulation in the parliament. If that is not viable, the minister believes other state agencies must be accessed “that will be able to do this, or are we going to defend the legitimacy of other state agencies? I am referring specifically to the Supreme Court, but not only to it”, he said.
Dino mentioned an experience he considers to be successful as an example of coordinated measure that could be produced: the regulation on school violence edited shortly after the tragedy in Blumenau in March of this year. “There is compliance in decisive moments. Now, with this tragedy in Paraná. In less than 2 hours, the platforms had complied with the regulation, and it was possible to identify the murderer and find that he had not acted alone”.
After his address, Minister Flávio Dino debated several topics with the councilors. The plenary meeting established issues, strategies and positions that will be approved in a convergence note. There were suggestions of topics for the next discussion cycle, which will be defined over the next week.
How it works
The council is organized into cycles composed of a formative stage, diagnostics and convergence of positions, based on weekly reports of the topics agreed upon in the planning meeting.
The topic chosen for the first cycle was the Brazilian Law of Freedom, Responsibility and Transparency on the Internet, also known as Bill 2630.
Members
Agência Diadorim; Anvisa; Barão de Itararé; Coalizão Direitos na Rede; Coletivo Bereia; Democracia em Xeque; Desinformante; Fundación Chile 21; Instituto da Hora; Instituto de Referência Negra Peregum; InstitutoTerra, Trabalho e Cidadania; Instituto Kaingáng; Instituto Marielle Franco; Instituto Vero; Internetlab; Intervozes; ISER; Mães e Pais pela Democracia; Mulheres Negras Decidem; Observatório da Comunicação Pública UFRGS; Purpose Brasil; Rede Nacional de Combate à Desinformação; Rede Trabalho em Cena; Sleeping Giants Brasil Washington Brazil Office.