The Federal Ministry of the Public (MPF) recommended the following to WhatsApp owner Meta: Communities tool launch will only happen in 2023. The request was filed this Friday (29) through the District Attorney for Citizens’ Rights (PRDC) in São Paulo.
According to prosecutors, The measure aims to prevent disinformation-containing messages from spreading through the new tool.. The main reason for this is the presidential elections to be held on October 2.
“The measure aims to prevent the company’s current policy to combat disinformation from being changed later this year, at a time when false news about the functioning of institutions and the integrity of the Brazilian voting system could endanger democratic stability,” the memo said. from the agency.
In an official statement, MPF states that the WhatsApp Communities tool can benefit users, but “He knows he can go against the effective measures the platform has adopted in recent years to contain the spread of fake news.”.
The agency’s concerns are also with the administrators of these domains, who can send messages to thousands of people at once. “A feature like this can increase people’s ability to go viral through the app, depending on how it’s used once it’s implemented,” MPF notes.
What are WhatsApp Communities?
In development since 2021, WhatsApp’s Communities feature allows you to bring together different groups with a common interest in one space. So in summary, such groups can receive messages from admins, which can contain thousands of members at once.
In April, WhatsApp had already confirmed this. No scheduled date yet to launch the new feature in Brazilespecially given the current political scenario in the country. In a note, the company confirmed it had received advice from the MPF and said it values ”continuous dialogue and cooperation with Brazilian authorities.”
“WhatsApp will continue to carefully and carefully evaluate the best time to launch this functionality and will submit its response within the deadline set by the competent authority,” the company said.
MPF has given Meta a 20-day period to respond to whether or not to accept the proposal. If the company refuses, the agency can “go to court to enforce the proposed measures”.
Source: Tec Mundo
