Bosses of tech giants Meta, Google and X had entrance row seats at Donald Trump’s current presidential inauguration. This particular remedy highlighted the more and more cosy relationship between leaders of expertise firms and the White Home.
Only a few weeks earlier than the ceremony, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg had pledged to “work with President Trump to push again on governments around the globe which might be going after American firms and pushing to censor extra”.
Zuckerberg additionally highlighted, and criticised, the restrictions that the European Union and Latin American nations had put in place to legally prohibit the social media giants. These embrace legal responsibility for moderation and limiting focused promoting.
Nevertheless, Latin America is rising because the area which is transferring quick to guard democratic establishments from misuse of social media, and different expertise.
As an example, Brazil’s proposed fake news bill (Lei das Fake News) seeks to control social media and curb misinformation. It has confronted sturdy opposition from Google. The invoice remains to be into account by Brazil’s Congress.
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Different examples embrace how, in August 2024, Brazil’s Supreme Courtroom quickly banned X for failing to adjust to authorized necessities, together with blocking social media accounts accused of spreading misinformation linked to the 2022 election. X had additionally didn’t appoint an area authorized official.
The platform remained suspended till October 8 2024, when X complied with the court docket’s orders, paid fines totalling 28 million reals (£3.9 million), and appointed a authorized consultant.
The court docket resolution has been a part of a broader effort in Brazil to guard its democracy and prohibit potential disruption from use of expertise or social media.
This push intensified after allies of then president Jair Bolsonaro used social media to unfold misinformation (forward of the 2022 elections), after which assault democratic institutions, and mobilise supporters within the lead-up to the January 8 2023 attacks on authorities buildings.
Digital platforms have been used to unfold false claims of voter fraud and discredit mainstream media in addition to unfold misinformation about Bolsonaro’s opponents. These efforts fuelled conspiracy theories and protests, which later turned violent. In response, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Courtroom tightened regulations, ordering platforms to take away false election claims.
However the area’s regulatory efforts lengthen past social media into different rising applied sciences. Colombia, Ecuador and Chile – among others – are at present debating rules of synthetic intelligence (AI) and taking a look at AI’s human rights and environmental impression.
Chile was the primary nation to recognise neurorights (brain rights) in its constitution, guaranteeing protections in opposition to the misuse of neurotechnology, comparable to brain-computer interfaces that would learn or manipulate ideas, feelings or cognitive processes. These growing applied sciences could possibly be utilized in medication, but additionally increase moral considerations about privacy and cognitive freedom.
Political leaders throughout Latin America additionally usually problem international expertise leaders over their impact on society. Chile’s president, Gabriel Boric, has criticised Elon Musk’s assist for far-right movements. Brazil’s president, Lula da Silva, stated the world didn’t should put up with Musk’s “far-right free-for-all simply because he’s wealthy”. Brazil’s first woman, Janja Lula da Silva, was much more direct. Throughout a world summit on social media regulation, she declared: “I’m not afraid of you, fuck you, Elon Musk.”
Historical past of authoritarianism
Many individuals in Latin America bear in mind how political energy was abused within the current previous to undermine democracy. In the course of the army dictatorships of the Seventies and Eighties in nations comparable to Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, many companies supported repressive regimes.
After the coup in Chile in 1973, Augusto Pinochet’s authoritarian authorities privatised industries and reduce social protections with assist from the Chicago Boys, a bunch of US-trained Latin American economists. The regime crushed dissent by way of state violence, and imprisoned and tortured thousands of people.
Within the early Seventies, Chilean president Salvador Allende had tried to determine the Cybersyn Project, an formidable initiative to create an financial planning system utilizing networked telex machines and an early type of algorithmic decision-making. It was designed to boost state management over the financial system, whereas decreasing dependence on international companies. However Cybersyn was dismantled after the US-backed military coup that put in Pinochet’s dictatorship.
At the moment, Latin America could also be higher positioned to counter international affect than it was within the Seventies. Brazil’s management on the recent G20 international summit, the place it efficiently pushed for social media and synthetic intelligence regulation, confirmed that there’s a regional will to push again in opposition to the calls for, and energy, of Silicon Valley’s expertise giants.
The query is whether or not these nations can maintain their efforts in opposition to stress from huge firms, financial stress (comparable to tariffs) and shifting geopolitical alliances. In the event that they do, Latin American nations might present a much-needed counterweight to company affect, and an instance to the remainder of the world of what could possibly be achieved.
