Minister Edinho Silva advocates better laws to combat online violence

Minister Edinho Silva, head of Secom, the president's communications office, expressed concern over the future of the internet, which he believes might become a place for aggression rather than profitable debate among citizens. The statement was made during a hearing about advertisement held Thursday (Oct. 8) with the Congressional Committee of Investigation (CPI in the Portuguese acronym) on cyber crime, at the Chamber of Deputies.

“It's a challenge facing early 21st century society. If, on the one hand, the internet has rendered the communication more democratic, on the other, it has also posed important challenges, among them online violence. There's no tolerance towards diversity of thought or cultural diversity,” Edinho Silva argued.

The minister believes laws should be adjusted in a bid to discourage and punish those who hide behind anonymity to belittle people or deconstruct values or achievements  made over the course of history.

During the hearing, one of the committee's assistant  rapporteurs, Deputy Sandro Alex, said he identified found federal government advertisements on pirate websites offering free download of copyright-protected films. He explained that adverts are automatically syndicated by an online tool that takes into consideration how popular a website is, not whether or not it is legal.

Edinho Silva told congressmen he was not aware of the problem, and that federal government branding items were being misused. “Someone has misappropriated federal government branding items and is publishing those items without government permission.” The minister noted that the government will take the necessary action to identify such websites and work to take all appropriate legal measures.

“I believe the federal government has fallen victim to the misuse of its branding material,” the minister said, adding that this has also happened to international companies.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira