*Update: This document, published on April 30, 2023, refers to the previous version of PL 2630, before the urgent vote in the Chamber of Deputies. Considering the timeframe and the new version of the project, we believe that the recommendations and justifications regarding data transparency remain relevant.
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In view of the vote in the Chamber of Deputies on Bill 2630/2020 starting on Tuesday, April 25, NetLab UFRJ, the Laboratory of Internet and Social Network Studies at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, presents recommendations for improving the proposal that we consider essential.
Our suggestions aim to ensure that, if approved, the new regulatory framework will be able to create a safer and more reliable digital environment, helping to mitigate online disinformation strategies. To this end, we indicate the need to reinforce the transparency of advertising on digital platforms, the guarantee of meassures for monitoring and auditability, as well as the principles of accountability for their activities.
We understand that the academic community plays a critical role in monitoring, analyzing and diagnosing the phenomenon of misinformation on digital platforms to qualify the debate and support public policies with scientific evidence. For this work to happen effectively, academic institutions must be able to access open data in a free and functional way, allowing the development of technologies and analysis methodologies for advanced research.
It is important to emphasize that transparency and access to data must respect the minimum technical requirements to allow robust diagnoses. The transparency tools currently provided by platforms offer incomplete, inconsistent and low-quality data that prevent systematic analysis, risk diagnosis and accountability for possible harm.