A recent decision by the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) regarding the Declaration of Internet Rights is generating an important warning about the future of social media in Brazil, especially in an election year
According to lawyer Francieli Campos, a specialist in Electoral Law and Digital Law, the algorithms of digital platforms tend to assume, in practice, the role of arbiters of what can or cannot be published on the internet-a function that previously belonged more directly to the Judiciary.
It all began with a reinterpretation of Article 19 of the Declaration of Internet Rights by the STF in 2025. This article defines when platforms are responsible for content published by users.
With the Court’s new interpretation, space is opened for technology companies to remove content preventively and automatically, following the criteria indicated by the Supreme Court.
In the jurist’s view, this means that the Judiciary is transferring to algorithms the task of deciding what is acceptable or not in public debate.
“The algorithm will be the judge of Brazilian citizens’ opinions,” summarizes Francieli Campos.
Instead of a magistrate analyzing each case individually, with the right to defense and transparency, the automated systems of social networks will begin to filter and block publications even before they reach the public, creating a kind of prior digital censorship.
The problem takes on even more serious dimensions because 2026 will be an election year.
The restrictions could directly affect candidates, parliamentarians, and ordinary voters who use social networks to express themselves, criticize, or campaign.
Brazilian electoral legislation is already considered one of the most restrictive in the world-limiting even the size of flags and stickers-and now, added to this is the power of algorithms to interpret and apply these rules broadly and immediately.
The legal expert cites worrying examples, such as the blocking of parliamentarians’ profiles without them knowing the exact reason or the case number, and the total prohibition of deepfakes (videos and audios generated by artificial intelligence), even when used positively, such as to praise someone or reduce campaign costs.
Unlike what happens in democracies like the United States, Europe, and even neighboring countries, here the space for innovation and freedom in electoral propaganda is becoming increasingly restricted.
Francieli Campos criticizes the fact that the Supreme Federal Court (STF) formed a thesis without consensus among the ministers-there were dissenting votes-and imposed a rule that should come from Congress, but which will hardly be changed soon due to the lack of political consensus.
Meanwhile, platforms, fearing punishment, tend to adopt an excessively cautious stance, removing content susceptible to restrictive interpretation and generating insecurity for everyone.
For her, the way forward is not to let judicial decisions or algorithms decide alone.
A broad dialogue within society-involving Congress, platforms, civil society, and experts-is necessary to update the Brazilian Internet Bill of Rights in a balanced way.
This debate should also include the protection of children and adolescents, as well as the future regulation of artificial intelligence.
Ultimately, the warning is clear: without transparent and collectively built regulations, we risk seeing social networks, essential spaces for democratic debate today, transformed into environments controlled by automatic filters that silence voices without justification.
The year 2026 may show, in practice, who will truly judge what Brazilians can say online.
Published in 02/08/2026 04h09
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
Reference article: