The echoes of the ban on social network X in Brazil continue to resonate three weeks later. Motivated by the “repeated failure to comply with court orders” by the platform run by Elon Musk, which refused to block profiles that contribute to the “massive dissemination of Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful and anti-democratic speeches”, the forced closure of the platform has been interpreted as a blow on the table of society against the excesses of technology companies. But it remains to be seen what real effects this blow will have. Fifty economists, academics and activists published today Tuesday an open letter in which they demand an end to the pressure exerted by “big tech companies” on Brasilia to try to curtail the deployment of various initiatives aimed at defending its digital sovereignty.
“We wish to express our deep concern regarding the continued attacks by Big Tech and their allies against Brazil’s digital sovereignty,” the document begins. The Brazilian government’s dispute with Elon Musk is just the latest example of a broader effort to “restrict the ability of sovereign nations to define a digital development agenda free from the control of US-based megacorporations,” note the signatories, which include economists such as Thomas Piketty, who shook up the discipline a decade ago with his Capital in the 21st century; Yanis Varoufakis, the short-lived Greek finance minister who dealt with the country’s rescue; inequality specialist Daron Acemoglu or Mariana Mazzucato. Other prominent names that support the text are Shoshana Zuboff, author of The era of surveillance capitalismthe essayist Evgeny Morozov or the jurist Renata Ávila.
The academics stress that Brazil has become a “key front” in the “global conflict between tech corporations and those seeking to build a democratic and people-centred digital landscape, focused on social and economic development.” President Lula da Silva, the document says, is pursuing his country’s digital independence, which he aims to achieve by reducing its dependence on foreign entities for data, artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and digital infrastructure, and by forcing big tech companies “to pay fair taxes, comply with local laws and be accountable for the social externalities of their business models.”
The response to this Brazilian regulatory push has been a challenge from some tech companies, such as X, and threats from others with the aim of “undermining initiatives that seek technological autonomy” in the American country. The signatories of the document believe that what is happening there concerns us all. “More than a warning to Brazil, (the actions of the big tech companies) send a worrying message to the world: that democratic countries that seek independence from the dominance of big tech companies run the risk of suffering disruptions in their democracies, with some corporations supporting far-right movements and parties.”
“We demand that big tech companies cease their attempts to sabotage Brazil’s initiatives aimed at developing independent capabilities in artificial intelligence, digital public infrastructure, data management, and cloud technology,” says the letter, which does not specify what sabotage it refers to. One of the signatories of the document points to AWS, a subsidiary of Amazon, which held a meeting with government representatives three weeks ago to offer a service proposal to support the sovereign cloud project that Brasilia is working on. “Big tech companies not only control the digital world, but they also make lobby and operate against the public sector’s ability to create and maintain an independent digital agenda,” reads the statement presented today.
From the European exception to the American one
Brazil, host country of the G20 summit in November, presented its AI plan in Julywhich contemplates the investment of 4,000 million dollars in the next ten years and which, under the slogan AI for the Good of All (AI for the Good of All) provides for the regulation of this technology to set clear limits and ensure its development is inclusive and sustainable. The government also has a program underway to equip itself with a national cloud computing infrastructure.
The Brazilian case is further confirmation that the regulatory impetus around technology is not a European heritage. The ambitious legal architecture of the EU on digital matters, which will be completed in 2026, when the AI Regulation comes into force, has inspired legislative initiatives in some US states and other countries. This week, the report on AI governance on which the UN has been working for a year and a half will be published.
“This is a crucial moment for the world. We need an independent approach to reclaim digital sovereignty and control over our public digital sphere,” the statement concludes.
