Google has spent more than BRL 2 million on a campaign against Fake News PL

Google spent BRL 2.1 million on ads against Fake News PL. This is what emerges from a document that the company sent to Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the STF (Supreme Federal Court).

For those in a hurry:

Also according to the document sent by Google, the campaign against the bill lasted for a week, between the end of April and the beginning of May 2023.

Google and PL of Fake News

Google ran ads against the proposal on digital platforms, radio, news sites, print newspapers and street billboards. According to the company, the ads ran from April 27 to May 2.

The company reported the data on May 4, in the so-called Fake News Survey, conducted by Minister Alexandre de Moraes. A week later, at the request of the PGR (Attorney General of the Republic), the minister opened an investigation into the platform’s campaign against the bill.

Google’s largest investment, according to the company, was in Meta, which controls Facebook, which received R $ 639,200. One of the announcements published on the social network stated that Fake News PL would “increase the confusion between what is true and what is false in Brazil”.

See below for the list of vehicles they have received from Google, according to the company:

Also according to Google, the company suspended the ads on May 2, that is, before the notification by the Court. The company stressed, however, that it does not see any illegality in placing advertisements.

There is no legal or constitutional basis to prohibit the purchase and use of advertisements for the dissemination of lawful content related to a topic of general interest, whether praise or criticism.

Extract from the Google document submitted to the STF

At what stage is the project?

Google has launched the offensive against the Fake News Bill on the eve of the vote on the House proposal, scheduled for May 2. But the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), has postponed the vote indefinitely.

Lira postponed the vote at the request of the text’s rapporteur, Orlando Silva (PCdoB-SP), after the government failed to gather enough votes. The text meets resistance from the opposition and from some benches in particular, such as the evangelical one.

The project intends to change the accountability system of platforms. Nowadays, companies like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are not responsible for the content posted by their users, unless they comply with a court order. In other words, for a platform to respond to a published criminal discourse, it needs to do it justice.

Now, what Fake News PL intends to set up is a system in which platforms become responsible from the moment they are notified, as is already the case in Europe. As a result, many specialists in digital law and freedom of expression believe it is possible that platforms increase the chances of being more active in the removal of content, in order to prevent liability.

The post that Google spent more than BRL 2 million on a campaign against Fake News PL first appeared on Olhar Digital.

Source: Olhar Digital