Brazil's TSE Sets August 16 Deadline for Digital Platforms' Compliance Plans
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has issued a new ordinance requiring digital platforms to submit compliance plans by August 16, 2024. The directive, signed by TSE President Kassio Nunes Marques, outlines rules for these plans, which aim to guide platform conduct during the electoral period. Each company must present its operational structure for receiving, filtering, and executing judicial orders. The plans need to detail commitments to monitoring, data collection methodologies, and checking frequencies. Key aspects to be addressed include preventative measures against political gender-based violence, monitoring of irregular advertising, data provision to the TSE, dissemination of explanatory content, and the removal of content or suspension of accounts. Social media providers must halt the promotion and monetization of false or severely decontextualized information deemed capable of affecting electoral integrity. The ordinance mandates that platforms specify their processes for detecting, deciding on, and executing the removal of content flagged as risky. It also addresses "coordinated inauthentic behavior," requiring parameters for identifying such activity and outlining measures to disrupt or impede these networks. Identified movements must be reported to the TSE to preserve information for investigations. This initiative follows a recent TSE order for Meta to preserve data related to alleged fake accounts targeting a presidential candidate. The ordinance also establishes internal rules for public and restricted information within the plans, with provisions for companies to exceptionally withhold certain restricted data if legally justified, subject to review by the TSE President.
This TSE ordinance reflects a growing global trend of electoral bodies seeking to regulate digital platforms' influence on political discourse. By mandating compliance plans, the TSE aims to establish a framework for accountability and transparency in how platforms manage content, combat disinformation, and respond to judicial orders during elections. The requirement for platforms to detail their operational procedures and data handling processes, including provisions for reporting coordinated inauthentic behavior, suggests an effort to move beyond reactive content moderation towards proactive risk management. However, the success of this initiative will hinge on the clarity of definitions, the robustness of enforcement mechanisms, and the platforms' willingness and technical capacity to comply with diverse and potentially complex requirements. The exceptional clause allowing platforms to withhold information, if justified by legal grounds, introduces a potential point of contention and requires careful scrutiny by the TSE to prevent undue opacity.
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