The bill to penalize companies for not reporting false news was to be voted on in the lower house of Congress on Tuesday, but its fate is uncertain due to resistance from conservative and evangelical lawmakers who have sided with the large technology companies and against the government and its allies.
Justice Minister Flavio Dino said the company had two hours after being notified to change a link on its search engine that connects to material arguing against the regulatory bill and urges readers to call their representatives to vote against.
Google removed the link minutes after Dino warned the company that it would be fined 1 million reais ($198,000) an hour if it didn’t comply..
“What is this? An editorial? This is not a means of communication or an advertising company,” said the minister.
“What we are avoiding is private, clandestine, disguised, unrecognized censorship,” he added at a news conference, saying Google was trying to restrict debate in Congress.
Bill 2630
Bill 2630, also known as the Fake News Law, places the responsibility on internet companies, search engines and social messaging services to find and report illegal material, instead of leaving it up to the courts, collecting heavy fines for not doing so.
Companies would also have to pay content providers and copyrights for material posted on their sites.
The Brazilian proposal is shaping up to be one of the strictest laws in the world on social media, comparable to the European Union’s Digital Services Law promulgated last year.