Brazil prohibits Goal to use press content to train AI

A brazilian justice prohibited Meta, the mother company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, from collecting media content linked to three press associations to train artificial intelligence models (IA).

 
The decision of Tuesday, consulted by the French news agency France-Presse (AFP), is a precautionary measure and is not final.

The ban follows a request from the national associations of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations, which denounced the fact that the Meta requires free provision of content in order to continue using the platforms and social networks of the US technological giant.

The requirement of Meta is the new conditions of use for companies, which were to enter into force on 20 November.

With the date approaching, Judge Guilherme Madeira Decem issued a provisional decision without hearing the Meta, considering that the damage would be irreversible as soon as the AI was trained with the contents of the press.

“ To impose on the media the free and universal availability of their creative heritage as a condition to remain linked to the channels through which the contemporary public consumes information constitutes a manifest abuse of law”, wrote the judge in the decision.

The magistrate suspended this part of the new Meta conditions and prohibited the company from sanctioning media that refuse them.

According to the associations, this is the first worldwide decision in favour of a media coalition against these conditions.

The Meta risks a daily fine of one million reais (162,000 euros) in the event of non-compliance with the ban until a final decision is made.

The company did not immediately respond to requests for comments from AFP.

This measure “is a very positive sign that shows that there are limits to the abuse of economic power”, said the executive president of the National Association of Newspapers, Marcelo Rech, in a statement.

The decision follows numerous criticisms addressed to the Meta during the presidential campaign in Brazil.

Before the second round of the elections, the Superior Electoral Court ordered the company to apply the same rules to both candidates, after the team of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused the Meta of interference in favor of rival Flávio Bolsonaro.

Meta denied having taken advantage, invoking “technical problems” that would have damaged the left campaign on the platforms.

United Nations experts urged Meta to protect freedom of political expression in the race for Presidential elections in Brazil.

After the re-election, on October 25, Lula promised to regulate social networks in the country.