Politicians want to censor the Internet in Brazil with the excuse of fighting “cyber crime”

Pay attention to what just happened: the National Congress has just released the final report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) of Cybercrime. The report proposes the creation of 8 bills to control the Internet. These projects are bombastic: they attack fundamental rights directly, such as freedom of expression, the right to privacy and important aspects of the “Marco Civil da Internet”, precisely those that protect against Internet surveillance and censorship.

Among the proposals that are set out in the final report of the CPI of Cybercrime are:

a) Turning social networks censorship bodies to protect the honor of politicians. If anyone speak ill of a politician in a social network, the social network will be required to remove the content within 48 hours. If its is not removed, the company will be co-responsible for that content and will have to compensate the offended politician. In other words, social networks will become permanent agent of surveillance and censorship of its users.

b) Send to jail for two years people who simply violate the “terms of use” of a site. Entered into a website or application and disregarded any provision of that huge document that everyone clicks without even having read: jail for you for two years.

c) Divert 10% of the Fistel funds, which aim to improve the quality of telecommunications in Brazil to finance the police. Telecommunications that are already expensive and of low quality in Brazil will be even worse. The funds that are collected to monitor the quality of Internet access, telecommunications and other services will be diverted to fund the police. Of course, this funding is important. But for that we have already paid our taxes. There is no need to divert essential resources for this.

d) Assigning responsibility to the federal police for any crime committed using a computer or mobile phone. In other words, a boy or a girl that download a music from the Internet may receive the visit of a federal police agent. Someone who writes something that is considered “defamatory” or “libelous” against a politician in social networks may have to give explanations to the Federal Police. In other words, several million Brazilians who do these activities every day can be monitored and even arrested by federal police on suspicion of having committed “crimes by computer use,” even if they are low offensive potential crimes.

e) Require Internet providers to automatically reveal who is behind each IP address on the network, informing the police the name, affiliation and home address of the person without the need for prior judicial order. In other words, everyone will be presumed “guilty” in the Brazilian Internet and can be constantly monitored. If you criticized a politician on the Internet, it will be possible to know your identity and the Federal Police can be called to act against you.

f) Establish outright censorship on the Internet. The bill amends the Marco Civil, which prohibits censorship, creating a new article that will “determine blocking connection providers access to Internet applications for users” to “curb services that are considered illegal.” In other words, any site can be blocked of Brazilian Internet. Remember WhatsApp blockage? This will be nothing close to what may happen. Any application, website or service may be blocked and censored directly by internet providers and Brazilians will be deprived of access it without any defense, affecting the lives of millions of people.

The CPI report proposing these changes opens with the signature of the Deputy Eduardo Cunha, the current president of the House of Representatives. The CPI was chaired by Mrs Mariana Carvalho (PSDB-RO) and the text prepared by Mr Espiridião Amim (PP-SC) and Representatives Sandro Alex (PSD-PR), Rafael Motta (PSB-RN), Daniel Coelho (PSDB- PE) and Rodrigo Martins (PSB-PI).

What most incredible on the CPI report of cybercrimes is how the internet is seen just like a “damnable den” and not as a source of jobs, innovation, development, and an essential tool for the future of Brazil.

In other words, they are criminalizing internet and placing the network under the strict control of the state. This is the same path taken by countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, North Korea and Russia.

It is unfortunate that Brazil, at that time the freedom of expression and the Internet are essential tools, have your internet CPI threatened by the initiative of cybercrimes. Of course, crimes committed on the internet needs to be fought. But this should be done respecting fundamental rights. What we are witnessing now is not an attempt to combat cybercrime, but rather an attempt to control the internet, that has troubled corrupt politicians in Brazil.

If you do not want the internet to be censored, share this information and speak up against the CPI of Cybercrime and the eight bills it proposes to control the internet. Censorship never more.