Supreme Court to probe Google and Telegram on lobbying efforts

Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice overseeing investigations into the spread of online disinformation in Brazil, on Friday placed under investigation executives from Google and Telegram for their companies’ lobbying efforts against the so-called “Fake News Bill.” 

The text of the bill, which was due to be voted on last week but was postponed amid a lack of consensus, does not give the government or any other body the prerogative to censor content. 

It assigns responsibility to Big Tech companies to fight content that constitutes crimes such as racism, pedophilia, or attacks on democracy. If they do not fulfill their obligations, companies could be subjected to sanctions, ranging from fines to suspensions.

Telegram, a messaging app, on Tuesday sent a message to users in Brazil claiming that the Fake News Bill “will kill the modern internet,” “put an end to freedom of expression,” and give the government “censorship powers without prior judicial oversight.”

The message was published on the Telegram Brasil channel, used for the company’s official communications. The platform encourages users to put pressure on lawmakers to vote against the bill, and sends a page with contact numbers of all parliamentarians.

Google, meanwhile, told users “The fake news bill could make your internet worse” — later changed to “The fake news bill could increase confusion about what is true or false in Brazil.” The Justice Ministry’s consumer defense department, as well as prosecutors in São Paulo, considered that the move went “beyond the usual tactics in public debate.”

The Justice Ministry told Google to flag the link as an ad and inform users about its commercial interests against the bill. It also wants the tech giant to inform whether it has interfered in the search engine’s algorithm to decrease visibility of content in favor of the bill. The penalty for non-compliance is BRL 1 million (USD 198,000) per hour. 

In the end, the company decided not to drop its lobbying efforts altogether. 

Justice Moraes said executives from both companies will be probed for launching what he called “an abusive campaign” against the text being debated in Congress.

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