Announced by the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), in June, the fake news working group has not been installed to date. The debate on the subject continues to be concentrated in the Federal Supreme Court (STF), following the latest decisions by Minister Alexandre de Moraes on X (formerly Twitter).
Without consensus on the matter in the Legislature, the parties did not even nominate members for the group announced by Lira. The man from Alagoas stated, at the time, that the intention was to mature a text to be voted on later, in the plenary.
In April 2023, the bill was approved urgently, with a vote expected in the plenary. There was, however, resistance and an agreement for voting was never reached, in the face of a lot of pressure from big techs.
There was also an attempt to divide the proposal into several projects and, even so, the topic did not move forward.
Sources from the National Congress heard by the CNN assess that the Chamber’s decision is inevitable, especially if the STF advances in the analysis of revisions to the Marco Civil da Internet.
The Court has at least three resources that can provoke an analysis of the platforms’ responsibility for removing content, without the obligation of judicial decisions.
There is no indication of when they could be analyzed, but in Congress there is a view that this could cause the debate in the Legislature to reignite, because parliamentarians could interpret that the Supreme Court would be usurping powers that would belong to the legislator.
Another assessment heard by CNN is that it will be an important topic for defining support in the Chamber election. The government defends regulation, but the proposal faces resistance from the opposition and there is no consensus among centrist parties.
Artificial intelligence
The ideological debate on the regulation of digital platforms also contaminated the analysis of another proposal: the regulatory framework for artificial intelligence in the country.
The text is stuck in a specific temporary committee on the subject in the Senate. The board has already had its operating deadline extended four times, but the project still does not have support to be voted on.
. The same argument is used against the Fake News PL in the Chamber. Furthermore, the industrial sector is pushing for less rigid rules and fears the impact on economic development.
The text’s rapporteur, senator Eduardo Gomes (PL-TO), faces resistance within his own party, the PL, which opposes the government, which defends the proposal. After the temporary committee, the project still needs to be analyzed in the plenary.
Prepared by a commission of jurists, the text was presented by the Presidency of the Senate. The topic is considered a priority by the President of the House, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), who wanted approval this year. After the last extension approved by senators, the deadline for the commission to operate is November 14th.
With the municipal elections, activities in Congress were practically paralyzed. Deputies and senators accumulate several projects that should only be analyzed after October, when the first and second rounds of the election take place.
