Brazil’s Supreme Court justices agree to make social media companies
liable for user content
[June 12, 2025] By
MAURICIO SAVARESE and ELÉONORE HUGHES
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The majority of justices on Brazil’s Supreme
Court have agreed to make social media companies liable for illegal
postings by their users, in a landmark case for Latin America with
implications for U.S. relations.
Brazil's top court decided to rule on two different cases to reach an
understanding on how to deal with social media companies as reports of
fraud, child pornography and violence among teenagers become rampant
online. Critics warn such measures could threaten free speech as
platforms preemptively remove content that could be problematic.
Gilmar Mendes on Wednesday became the sixth of the court’s 11 justices
to vote to open a path for companies like Meta, X and Microsoft to be
sued and pay fines for content published by their users. Voting is
ongoing but a simple majority is all that is needed for the measure to
pass.
The ruling will come after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned of
possible visa restrictions against foreign officials allegedly involved
in censoring American citizens. One such official reportedly is
Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has taken measures against
social media outlets he deemed to have not complied with Brazilian law.
The only dissenting Brazilian justice so far is André Mendonça and his
vote was made public last week. The court is yet to decide how such
regulations will be enacted.
Mendonça said free speech on social media is key for the publication of
information that "holds powerful public institutions to account,
including governments, political elites and digital platforms.”
Justice Flávio Dino, the first to vote on Wednesday, reminded his
colleagues that recent cases of school shootings in Brazil were
stimulated on social media. He read out postings by one user who said he
was happy by watching families of dead children “weeping, bleeding,
dying.”
“I think social media has not made humanity closer to what it has
produced in best fashion,” he said.
The social media proposal would become law once voting is finished and
the result is published. But Brazil’s Congress could still pass another
law to reverse the measure.
[to top of second column] |
Minister Luiz Fux, left, Google Brazil’s rapporteur, talks with
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberto Barroso, during the court’s
resumption of social media regulation cases regarding online
disinformation, in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP
Photo/Eraldo Peres)
 The current legislation states
social media companies can only be held responsible if they do not
remove hazardous content after a court order.
Public debate on regulating social networks increased in Brazil in
the aftermath of the Jan. 8 riot in 2023, when supporters of former
president Jair Bolsonaro ransacked Congress, the presidential palace
and the Supreme Court in the capital, Brasilia.
Platforms need to be pro-active in regulating content, said Alvaro
Palma de Jorge, a law professor at the Rio-based Getulio Vargas
Foundation, a think tank and university.
“They need to adopt certain precautions that are not compatible with
simply waiting for a judge to eventually issue a decision ordering
the removal of that content,” Palma de Jorge said.
Wednesday’s ruling brings Brazil’s approach to big tech closer to
the European Union’s approach, which has sought to rein in the power
of social media companies and other digital platforms.
Rendering platforms automatically accountable for content on their
platforms may infringe freedom of speech as they could resort to
preemptively removing content, according to the Sao-Paulo based
Brazilian Chamber of Digital Economy, an organization that
represents sectors of the digital economy.
“This type of liability favors large companies with robust legal
structures, to the detriment of smaller, national players, which
negatively impacts competition,” said the organization, adding that
the decision may increase barriers to innovation.
___
Hughes reported from Rio de Janeiro.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
