STF adjusts punishment for big techs in case of "reasonable doubt"; understand
The STF (Supreme Federal Court) defined the final text of the thesis that changes the civil liability rules for big techs in Brazil. According to the understanding reached this Wednesday (17), digital platforms may be held jointly and severally liable for damages resulting from crimes or unlawful acts published by third parties.
The court, however, made an exception to protect technology companies.
According to the proposal consolidated by the rapporteur, minister Dias Toffoli, the punishment will be removed if internet providers demonstrate that there was "reasonable doubt regarding the illegality" of the material and that they carried out a "qualified due diligence" analysis before deciding to keep it available.
The same joint and several liability rule applies to profiles reported as false or inauthentic. The safeguard was proposed by the president of the court, Edson Fachin, and included in the thesis of the trial.
In the opinion of the majority of ministers, the old model of article 19 of the Marco Civil da Internet, which required a prior court order for the removal of content, generated a "partial omission" that did not provide sufficient protection for fundamental rights and democracy.
Systemic failure and the role of the Executive
The text approved by the STF also establishes a hard line against the circulation of serious criminal content, such as anti-democratic acts, terrorism, racism and crimes against women or against children and adolescents. In these cases, platforms must "immediately make the material unavailable", under the risk of punishment for "systemic failure".
Another central point of the trial was the division of powers to regulate the sector. The STF expressly included the possibility for the Executive Branch to act in the supervision and regulation of obligations imposed on platforms.
"What was an appeal to the legislator to act in the creation of new regulation on the subject ended up becoming a ratification of recent presidential decrees, by including the possibility of regulation of the subject by the Executive", explained lawyer André Giacchetta, specialist in data protection and technology, to CNN.
The lawyer signals that the end of the Supreme Court trial begins a period of operational and legal uncertainty for technology companies.
"Now we will enter a phase of maturation to understand how the Marco Civil da Internet should be interpreted after the thesis established by the STF and the recent decrees issued by the Executive, including in the face of their antinomies (conflicts of rules), regarding implementation deadlines and contradictory obligations. But problems of interpretation still remain: reasonable doubt, qualified diligence, systemic failure", concludes Giacchetta.
To preserve legal certainty, the effects of the decision will be valid from the publication of the trial minutes, which took place on August 5, 2025, with the exception of continued acts.
Internet providers will have 60 days to implement the structural security measures required in cases of serious crimes.
Source: CNN