Dino demands that social networks remove messages threatening schools

The federal government will require platforms to create open and agile channels to respond to requests from police authorities about content that advocates violence and threats to schools on social networks, such as the removal of these profiles, the Minister of Justice reported this Monday (10). and Public Security, Flávio Dino.

The minister also demanded active monitoring of platforms in relation to threats. The platforms will be formally notified this week of suspicious profiles and content identified by the Ministry of Justice in conjunction with state police.

Those who fail to comply with the notification may suffer sanctions, such as being investigated by the Federal Police and measures determined by the public ministries.

“We are seeing panic being installed within schools and families and we have not yet identified the proportionality of the reaction of the platforms with this epidemic of violence that threatens our schools at this moment”, he said in a press interview. “I made it clear at the meeting that if the notification is not heeded, we will take police and legal action against the platforms. Obviously, we don’t want that. We want the platforms to help us.”

The minister met today with representatives of companies Meta, Kwai, Tik Tok, Twitter, YouTube, Google and WhatsApp to discuss actions to prevent violence in schools and avoid attacks like the one that occurred at a day care center in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, last week past, which led to the death of four children and left several injured.

So far, the ministry has identified more than 511 profiles with the dissemination of violent content against schools, identified on the 8th and 9th of April, only on Twitter.

According to the minister, in order not to withdraw the content and profiles, the companies argue respect for the terms of use and freedom of expression. Dino cited a case in which he was asked to remove profiles with the name and photos of homicides. The platform claimed that it can only take down if the profile posts any message in support of violence.

The minister pointed out that the terms of use “do not override the Constitution, the law, they are not greater than the lives of Brazilian children and adolescents”.

“We are on a frontier where opportunists will rehearse the false argument that we are somehow trying to limit so-called freedom of expression. Freedom of expression does not exist to air images of mutilated teenagers. There is no freedom of speech for those who are spreading panic and threats against schools. There is no freedom of speech for those who want to kill children in schools. There is no term of use that can, legally, serve as a shield for anyone who wants to behave irresponsibly,” she said.

Regarding the functioning of the network algorithm and the fact that they recommend viewing violent content, the minister stressed that platforms should be held responsible for this type of recommendation. “We are not saying that technology platforms are solely responsible for hate speech in schools. We know that there are multiple determinations. However, there is no doubt that, in the way contemporary society is structured, a fundamental node, a fundamental link in the chain of violence in schools is precisely the propagation of this discourse through these posts, ”he said.

The Cybernetic Operations Laboratory (Ciberlab), of the Ministry of Justice, registered a large circulation, in Brazil and abroad, of messages with content of violence referring to April 20th. In the interview, Flávio Dino ruled out the risk of attacks on that date and stressed that the folder monitors it daily.

“There is no reason, at this point, to panic. What exists is the need to strengthen institutional mechanisms and the behavior of technology platforms is decisive so that we can have general prevention ”, he said. On April 20, 1999, the Columbine High School massacre took place in the United States.