Brazil: Facebook and Instagram will remove “false messages” in the presidential election

Facebook and Instagram will take a number of measures to fight against misinformation on the eve of the October elections in Brazil, including the almost immediate liquidation “false messages”This was announced on Friday by Meta.

The artificial intelligence will monitor in real time a “set of signals” identified by the algorithm as “false messages” or who violate the electoral law in the specified social networks are subject to removal from the profile of the authors “almost immediately”a source from Meta, the firm that controls both networks, told Efe.

Reported cases and “more complex” cases will be analyzed multidisciplinary center of computer specialists and experts in electoral law and other areas similar to those who worked in the 2018 elections, the source said.

Protection of the electoral process

In a statement, the company said it has invested in equipment, technology tools and alliances. “help protect Brazilian elections” and confirmed its cooperation with the electoral authorities and independent verification agencies to reduce the spread “fake news”.

With the “election approaching”, the first round of which will take place on October 2, “we will intensify our Operations Center to the elections,” which will identify “in real time” “potential threats” and will facilitate “quick response,” Meta said.

“Removal of content” that encourages people to stop voting, which in the country is mandatory for persons aged 18 to 70, containing “hate speech” or “intervene in the vote” and eliminating false profiles, even if not reported, are among the measures taken, he mentioned.

Print with access to the Higher Electoral Court (TSE) page on Facebook and Instagram posts and an out-of-court filing channel complaints electoral crimes in whatsapp These are other mechanisms implemented by Meta that have already had friction with President Jair Bolsonaro.

Criticism of Bolsonaro

In April, Bolsonaro met with representatives of WhatsApp, who provided clarification on the decision to postpone the broadcast on the mass messaging app with the new tool.communitiesuntil a decision was made after the election, which was criticized by the president.

TSE that was the subject constant criticism from Bolsonarohas been pushing agreements with major social networks in recent months to curb spreading fake news during the presidential election next October.

So-called “fake news” played a decisive role in the 2018 elections, which resulted in the victory of the far-right leader.

The 2018 election campaigns, mainly those of Bolsonaro, were subjected to research work by the TSE and complaints about the massive spread of false news, such as the report made by investigative journalist Patricia Campos Mello of the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper and winner of the King’s Prize of Spain.

Already in his presidency, some posts by Bolsonaro and politicians associated with him were removed from social media, such as the video on YouTube about a recent meeting with about forty ambassadors, in which the ruler insisted on his criticism of the system electronic voting, has been in use since 1996 with no proven fraud. (EFE)