Flávio Dino announces federal offensive against threats to schools; Twitter backs down and cooperates with the Justice Department.
Platforms in Brazil could be fined or even suspended if they fail to effectively regulate posts containing content related to violence in schools.
247 - The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, presented measures on Wednesday (12) to reinforce security in schools. According to the head of the ministry, the National Consumer Secretariat will install procedures to investigate the responsibility of virtual platforms in the dissemination of threats.
Social media platforms in Brazil could be fined or even have their operations suspended if they fail to effectively regulate posts containing content related to violence in the school environment.
This was the most drastic measure announced by the federal government following cases of attacks and threats of violence at educational establishments in several states in recent days. "If there is no compliance, the administrative process will proceed so that sanctions can be applied, ranging from fines to the suspension of activities," said Minister Flávio Dino.
Twitter, for example, announced that it will cooperate with the Justice Department, which had demanded... explanations and the presentation of the social network's proposal to prevent the dissemination of content that incites hatred and violence.
"A certain company was resistant to the guidelines we (the government) have been transmitting, and held a meeting informing them of this more collaborative vision," the minister highlighted, without naming Twitter. "There is an emergency situation that has generated an epidemic of attacks, threats, and the spread of panic in families and school communities."
According to the minister's announcement, there will be coordinated work with cybercrime police stations to identify material that promotes attacks. It was decided that platforms will be prohibited from accepting new profiles from addresses identified as threatening to schools. The federal government has mandated that platforms provide police investigators with data that allows for the identification of the user or the internet connection device.
The proposals were presented in a context of attacks of national repercussion in schools. Last Wednesday (5), a man invaded a daycare center in Blumenau (SC) and killed four children. On the morning of this Tuesday (11), a teenager stabbed three classmates in Santa Tereza de Goiás (GO). At the end of March, a 13-year-old boy stabbed a 71-year-old teacher to death at the Thomazia Montoro state school, in the west of the city of São Paulo (SP).
The Minister of Justice stated that "the National Consumer Secretariat will immediately initiate administrative proceedings to determine the responsibility of each company." "In light of the potential violation of the duty of security and the duty of care regarding content that links to harmful or dangerous material," he said.
On Tuesday, the executive secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Ricardo Cappelli, said that threats to schools are part of the Hybrid warfare against the country..