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Brazil moves to tighten platform oversight, strengthen online safety

By Thomson Reuters May 20, 2026 | 2:08 PM

BRASILIA, May 20 (Reuters) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday signed ​a package of draft ‌bills and decrees to tighten oversight of digital platforms, incorporating Supreme Court interpretations of Brazil’s internet ‌legal ​framework.

The measures target ⁠online safety, requiring ⁠digital platforms to act more quickly against harmful content and clarifying their responsibilities.

KEY DETAILS

• Big ​Tech must establish reporting channels for crimes, immediately ⁠remove illegal content ⁠and store data to ​enable prosecution of offenders.

• Platforms must ​take preventive measures against serious ‌crimes, including terrorism, child sexual exploitation, human trafficking, self-harm incitement and violence against women.

• ⁠Companies can be held accountable for paid advertising promoting crimes if there ⁠are “recurring ‌failures” in prevention and ⁠content removal.

• Services like ​WhatsApp, ‌messaging apps, email and ​videoconferencing ⁠are excluded due to constitutional privacy protections, the presidential office said.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Isabel Teles; Editing by ​Aurora Ellis)