Details of a ruling to hold social media companies accountable for what their users post were approved by Brazil's Supreme Court, paving the path for its implementation in the coming weeks.
Tech companies like Google, Meta, and TikTok are required by an 8-3 ruling in Brazil's top court to aggressively monitor and take action against information that contains hate speech, racism, or incitement to violence.
The South American country's relationship with the US government has been tense as a result of the case.
Critics worry that if platforms take proactive steps to eliminate potentially troublesome information, the action could jeopardize free speech.
Following the court's decision, users will have the legal right to sue social media companies for hosting unlawful content if they do not take down content that a victim has brought to their attention.
The court left it up to case-by-case decision-making and did not establish clear guidelines for what content is prohibited.
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The decision upholds a regulation that mandates businesses to take down content only in response to court orders, which were frequently disregarded.
It is the outcome of two cases that the court accepted last year, in which social media corporations were charged with failing to take action against users who promoted violence, child pornography, and fraud.
The justices also concurred that social media corporations will not be held accountable if they can demonstrate that they promptly removed unlawful content.
Google claimed to be examining the court's ruling, and that is ready to have a discussion on the same.
Following US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's warning of potential visa restrictions on foreign authorities implicated in censoring American people, Brazil's top court reached its verdict.
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The current decision aligns Brazil's big tech strategy with that of the European Union, which has aimed to limit the influence of social media firms and other online platforms.