Brazil: Twitter refuses to remove content promoting attacks on schools despite requests from Ministry of Justice
The number of attacks on schools in the country in 2022 and 2023 exceeds the total recorded in the last 20 years. On April 5, an attack on a daycare in Blumenau (SC) resulted in the death of four children.
Given the alarming scenario, the federal government initiated Operation Safe School, of which a meeting with representatives from YouTube, Meta, Twitter, Kwai, TikTok, WhatsApp and Google was part of. In this meeting, the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety requested the platforms to adopt effective strategies to combat hate speech, violence and threats to schools, including the exclusion of profiles and content related to the massacres and their authors. 270 Twitter accounts were identified that should be targeted for moderation.
Twitter, however, said that the dissemination of perpetrators' photos and profiles does not violate the platform's guidelines, which contradicts expert guidelines. A lawyer for the company stated that profiles with names of child killers should not be deleted, as their existence could not be considered apology for crime.
The hashtag "#TwitterSupportsMassacres" reached the platform's trending topics, although it disappeared hours after its creation.
The BHRRC invited Twitter to comment on the allegations, but the company did not respond.