{
  "id": 2433593,
  "title": "Intermediary Liability in Brazil: The Intricate Path Ahead",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/intermediary-liability-in-brazil-the-intricate-path-ahead",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-20T23:17:55.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "EFF Deeplinks",
    "slug": "eff-deeplinks",
    "url": "https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/08/intermediary-liability-brazil-intricate-path-ahead"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Brazil is transitioning to a new internet intermediary liability regime, as recently clarified by the Supreme Court. This new system introduces notice and takedown mechanisms, along with a duty of care for platforms. However, there are concerns that these measures may lead to overreach and censorship of protected speech. The government released two presidential decrees detailing the implementation of these rules. Under the new regime, platforms can be held liable for third-party content if they fail to remove it after receiving a notification, unless there is reasonable doubt that the content is unlawful. In specific cases, such as defamation, platform liability depends on the platform's failure to comply with a judicial order. For serious crimes, platforms must remove related content immediately or face liability. The new rules also impose stricter regulations on paid ads, boosted content, and bots. The previous regime, established by the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, aimed to protect online freedom of expression by holding platforms liable for user content when they refuse a judicial order to remove it. However, the court found this provision inadequate in safeguarding democracy and fundamental rights. The new regime introduces provisions to protect users' due process rights, requiring platforms to inform users about the decision to remove or keep content, the reason for the action, and the appeal process. Provisions also address the potential misuse of notification systems, allowing platforms to keep content up if there's reasonable doubt about its unlawfulness, considering factors like freedom of religion and belief. Additionally, platforms must create dedicated channels for reporting intimate content, providing victims or their representatives with a specific and accessible means to follow the case. However, a concerning provision requires platforms to proactively report criminal conduct-related content to government authorities, including user identification information. While this provision aims to prevent the spread of unlawful content, it raises concerns about platforms essentially policing and reporting users to authorities without a court order. The definition of messaging applications exempt from notice and duty of care obligations is also unclear, particularly in the context of end-to-end encrypted applications. It is crucial to ensure that duties to monitor and remove content do not affect encrypted conversations. The Supreme Court clarified that a judicial order is still required for platforms to comply with these new rules, and the government's decrees provide a mixed approach to addressing the challenges posed by intermediary liability.",
  "summary": "Brazil's new internet intermediary liability regime is underway. The implementation of changes established by the Supreme Court includes notice and takedown mechanisms and duty of care obligations. Caution is crucial as these measures can create problematic incentives for enforcement overreach and over censorship of protected speech. The court in June issued a new decision clarifying elements of…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}