Brazil Looks to Crack Down on Fake News Ahead of Bitter Election "We have made several product improvements to reduce the reach of low quality content, eliminate the economic incentives behind most fake news, and prioritize content from trustworthy and informative sources." Google, which has been sued and fined dozens of times in Brazil as part of efforts to get online content removed, has met with judicial officials to explain the advances, and limitations, of its tools to combat fake news. "Sometimes the excessive concern with freedom of expression ends up violating a more important principle — the democratic principle." At Justice Fux’s direction, Brazil’s Federal Police recently established a task force of law enforcement and intelligence personnel, which is developing strategies to prevent fake news from being produced and to limit its reach once misleading content starts spreading online. While WhatsApp is in the middle of a legal battle before Brazil’s top court over its encryption practices, company representatives in Brazil recently told judicial officials they would abide by what it considered reasonable court orders requesting the suspension of accounts found to be systemically spreading fake news. Luiz Fux said that It is necessary to consider which of these two principles must be sacrificed in the name of an election that is neutral and not tainted by deceitful news, "The big question is when does a personal opinion become a lie about a candidate that is published with the specific intent of harming them and in doing so interfering with an election." Judicial officials say the task force is studying the tactics used by groups that have been active in spreading fake news in the past and assessing under which current laws they could most effectively be charged. Mr. da Silva is by far the leading target of negative fake news stories in Brazil, according to an analysis by Veja, a weekly newsmagazine, which recently published a cover story about misinformation campaigns.
