On December 19, 2023, Luís Roberto Barroso, a Justice of the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil, presented a new strategic plan for the Combating Disinformation Program for the 2023/2025 biennium¹.
Established in 2021, the program once again attempts to address the negative effects of misinformation, which has plagued many countries, especially with the advancement of unregulated digital platforms and users using these tools to undermine the trustworthiness of institutions or public servants.
Distortion of meaning, speeches and projects were also diagnosed and the program aims to combat these behaviors that are harmful to our daily lives, mainly because they violate the country’s constitutional principles and pose a risk to democratic stability.
Not surprisingly, we recently saw a fierce presidential dispute in Brazil in 2018, with posts on social networks that distorted the real meaning brought to the electoral platforms. Since then, the country has recorded dozens of offensive speeches and offenses against institutions every day, motivated by uncontrolled actions, which require a more assertive fight.
In this way, the Federal Supreme Court included in the program a positive agenda to promote constitutional values and fundamental rights, the development of democratic culture, political pluralism, tolerance and social peace.
Therefore, the Brazilian Judiciary has sought beyond its walls to re-establish national and international trust, and this program seeks to establish new goals, setting parameters and bringing essential concepts so that we can continue with a fair, cohesive and effectively democratic country.