The Supreme Court of Brazil made a significant ruling on Wednesday, determining that social media companies must be accountable for certain types of user-generated content within the country. However, specifics regarding the enforcement of this decision remain to be clarified.
In a landmark vote, six out of the eleven justices concluded that platforms should assume responsibility for third-party content deemed illegal. This ruling may lead to monetary penalties against social media companies that fail to remove questionable posts by users.
This decision is poised to affect major platforms such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, Elon Musk’s X, and Google’s Alphabet in a substantial market of over 200 million users.
Only one justice opposed altering the existing law, which currently allows companies to only be held liable for third-party content if they do not adhere to a court’s directive to remove it.
Justice Gilmar Mendes, representing the majority opinion, criticized the present Brazilian legislation as “a veil of irresponsibility for digital platforms.” He emphasized that, unless compelled by a court order, companies cannot be held liable for damages associated with content that remains online, even if they are aware of its criminal nature.
In response, Meta issued a statement indicating that such a ruling could render platforms responsible for nearly all content without prior notification.
Google expressed in a pre-vote statement its belief that Brazilian social media laws need enhancement, advocating for procedural safeguards and criteria to avoid legal ambiguity and prevent indiscriminate removals of content.
Requests for comments from TikTok and a representative of X in Brazil were not immediately fulfilled.
The Supreme Court has yet to come to an agreement on the scope of the ruling, particularly concerning which types of content will be classified as illegal. The court’s president, Luis Roberto Barroso, plans to collaborate with the other justices to establish a consensus.
Four judges are set to cast their votes in the ongoing trial, which has been adjourned for several months. Previous votes remain subject to change, although alterations are rare. The trial is scheduled to continue on Thursday.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
