“The platforms are not neutral; the algorithms reward the extreme, the grotesque, the destructive,” says Congressman Orlando Silva, rapporteur of the Fake News Bill.
The death of 22-year-old Jéssica Vitória Canedo, following the publication of false information about her on social media, prompted government members to react to the incident and spurred advocacy for the approval of Bill 2630/2020, which establishes the Brazilian Law of Freedom, Responsibility, and Transparency on the Internet.
At the beginning of last week, gossip profiles published images of an alleged conversation the victim had with comedian and influencer Whindersson Nunes. Since then, she has been receiving threats and offensive messages.
The artist and the young woman themselves denied any kind of relationship and said they did not know each other. Whindersson even warned the public that the leaked images were fake. Both the victim and her family appealed to the profiles that posted the lie to remove the information, but nothing was done.
One of the administrators of the Choquei page, one of the largest in Brazil in the celebrity news segment, even made a mocking comment on a text in which the woman stated that she suffered from depression and asked for the removal of fake news. “Tell her that the ENEM essay is over,” Raphael Souza posted in a mocking tone.
