Gilmar Mendes: network regulation “can never be confused with censorship”

Federal Supreme Court (STF) minister Gilmar Mendes said that it is not possible to confuse the regulation of social networks and the protection of fundamental rights with censorship.

The statement was made at an event with Supreme Court officials that marks two years since the violent acts of January 8, 2023. In the minister’s assessment, “January 8 is not a past fact, but an open wound in Brazilian society”.

“This normative trajectory can never be confused with censorship. Quite the contrary: it represents not only a legal evolution, but constitutes the cornerstone on which a democratic and pluralistic digital sphere is built, capable of harmonizing freedom of expression with social responsibility in the virtual environment”, stated the judge.

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Moraes: “STF will not allow networks to continue being instrumentalized”

Minister of the STF attributed to social networks the “true cause” of the violent acts of January 8, 2023. “The main cause of all this was not suppressed, it was not even regulated,” said Moraes

The speech comes one day after Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said that there are “secret censorship courts” in Latin America.

Gilmar also said that institutions must create mechanisms to inhibit the circulation of criminal speeches on social networks to avoid a repeat of January 8th.

He also defended a debate on the role of the military in politics and suggested the creation of a hypothesis of ineligibility for “occupants of certain public positions who propose to leave their careers to enter politics”.