A decision by social media giant Meta to end fact-checking in the United States is "bad for democracy," Brazil's newly appointed communication minister Sidonio Palmeira said Wednesday.
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stunned many with his announcement Tuesday that he was pulling the plug on fact-checking at Facebook and Instagram in the United States, citing concerns about political bias.
Palmeira said Meta's decision was "bad for democracy because (without fact-checking) you don't control the spread of hate, misinformation, and fake news."
"That's the problem. We need to have control, we need to regulate social media, that's what's happening in Europe."
Zuckerberg also slammed censorship in Europe and Latin America, leaving many countries wondering if they will be next.
Brazil's public prosecutor's office sent a letter to local Meta representatives giving the company 30 days to clarify whether it intends to implement the changes in the country, with detailed information.
Instead of professional fact-checking, Zuckerberg will shift the responsibility of debunking falsehoods to ordinary users under a model known as "Community Notes," popularized by X.
Experts have warned that ending the fact-checking program opens the floodgates for harmful misinformation.
Brazil's Supreme Court has strongly opposed regulating social media platforms.
Last year, it blocked Elon Musk's X platform for 40 days for failing to comply with court orders against online disinformation.
AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook's fact-checking program, including in the United States and the European Union.