Haddad: Government worried about end of information control in Meta

Meta’s decision to end the information verification system on its social networks, announced on Tuesday (7). It worried the Brazilian government. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad was also one of the federal government representatives who criticized the measure.

In an interview with GloboNewsThe head of the ministry emphasized that the change made by the owner of Facebook and Instagram could facilitate the spread of fake news and allow practices such as slander and slander under the false discourse of freedom of expression. According to him, the end of the information verification mechanism brings risks to subsequent election processes.

“It worries us, we saw what happened in 2018 and in 2022. We are in a more complex world. We must care for our democracy and the integrity of people, institutions and information,” commented Haddad.

As Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained, fact checking will be replaced by functionality similar to X’s community notes, and social media users themselves will be responsible for correcting false or misleading posts. According to the administrator, this will reduce “censorship” on their platforms.

More criticism of changes to metanets

Another representative of the federal government who criticized the termination of Meta’s verification system was João Brant, Secom’s Digital Policies secretary during the Lula government. In his view, this disrespects countries’ digital sovereignty and signals that big tech is preparing to challenge protection policies in different regions.

“Today’s announcement by Mark Zuckerberg anticipates and explains the beginning of the Trump administration Meta’s alliance with the US government to confront the European Union, Brazil and other countries trying to protect rights online (those who, in his opinion, ‘encourage censorship’),” Brant wrote on his official Twitter profile.

Today’s announcement by Mark Zuckerberg anticipates the start of the Trump administration and describes Meta’s alliance with the US government to confront (in his view, ‘encouragers’) the European Union, Brazil and other countries that seek to protect rights online. censorship’). (1/8)

— João Brant (@joaobrant) January 7, 2025

Following the messages, the secretary also criticized the billionaire’s statements describing institutions such as the Federal Supreme Court (STF) as “secret courts”. The posts created a great response; Many internet users have expressed concern about the possibility of future conflicts between Meta and the STF, similar to the conflicts involving X and the Brazilian justice system last year.