The Supreme Court of Brazil on Wednesday ruled that social media companies should be held accountable to some types of content published by users on their platforms in the country, but the decision has not yet been resolved.
Six of the 11 judges of the Supreme Court voted for placing platforms responsible for third-party materials seen as illegal, resulting in a penalty against social media companies not to remove some users’ positions in the country.
Decision can affect the business of platforms including meta Facebook And Instagramas well as TikokokAlone musk X And other internet giants, such as alphabet GoogleIn the market of over 200 million people.
Only one justice has so far voted to change the current law on the matter, which says that companies can only be found responsible for third-party content on their platforms if firm does not comply with legal decisions to remove content.
Writing for the majority, Justice Gillmar Mendes stated that the current Brazilian law represents “a veil of irresponsible for digital platforms”.
He said, “Even though he is informed about the incident of crimes on his platforms, he (currently) cannot be held responsible for the damage caused by keeping this material online, except in the case of court order,” he said.
Asked to comment, Meta sent a 2024 statement, where he said that a decision -making platforms could be held responsible, “they could” be responsible for almost all types of materials. “
In a statement sent to the vote that gave a majority to the court, Google said that the current Brazilian law about social media can be improved and it should be improved, “as long as the process guarantee and criteria are determined to prevent legal uncertainty and indiscriminate material removal.”
A representative of X in Tikok and Brazil did not immediately respond to the requests of the comment.
The court did not agree on the scope of the verdict, such as what kind of material would be considered illegal. Court chief Luis Roberto Biroso said he would work with court members to find a consensus.
Four judges still need to vote in the test, which has been rolling for months. The already cast votes can still be changed, although it is not common. The test is scheduled to resume on Thursday.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
(This story is not edited by NDTV employees and auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)