Brazilian government will seek help from tech giants to reduce fake news
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) wants to engage with tech giants Facebook, Google and Twitter as part of its efforts to reduce fake news in this year's presidential elections.
A TSE council focused on the Internet impact on the elections gathered for the second time on Monday (15) to discuss its agenda, which include research development on the influence of the Internet on elections, especially "the risk of fake news and the use of bots in the dissemination of information" and updating the Court's current policies to reflect technology innovations.
The Internet companies are not part of the TSE council but the Court's general secretary Luciano Felício, stated that they will be asked to provide input. "We will approach them as we know that they are interested in collaborating," Felício said.
In the latest meeting, the TSE also presented a report which included insights from the in-depth analysis on how countries such as the US, Germany and France are dealing with the issue, as well as proposed measures to be adopted in Brazil based on the study findings.
Additionally, councilors discussed the creation of a handbook to support decision making of judges in cases relating to online content removal and the development of additional material to educate voters about the spread of fake news on social networks.
The new rules are expected to be issued before campaigning starts in August. A new meeting has been scheduled for 29 January.