Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet: between the dream of lex meta and the nightmare of lex americana

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the transformation of the legal regime for content moderation in Brazil, focusing on Article 19 of the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, the regulatory proposal of Bill No. 2,630/2020, and the rise and decline of the self-regulatory structure of Meta's Oversight Board. The research adopts a legal-analytical and interdisciplinary approach based on documentary and bibliographic review. It draws upon regulatory theory, legal transplant theory, and transnational governance to examine the historical, normative, and institutional dynamics of platform-based content moderation. The study’s originality lies in its critical articulation between state regulatory models and private transnational self-regulation regimes. It demonstrates how the promise of a plural lex digitalis is being replaced by the consolidation of a lex americana, imposed by large platforms and supported by U.S.-based norms and political agendas. The results indicate a decline in the effectiveness of state regulation over content moderation, the weakening of the Oversight Board, and a return to normative parameters aligned with U.S. political and economic interests. The analysis also highlights the Brazilian legislature’s omission and the judiciary’s increasing protagonism in digital regulation.The main contribution of this article is to provide a theoretical and methodological framework to understand the challenges to normative sovereignty in the digital sphere, while proposing reflections on the need for new regulatory strategies that reconcile pluralism, fundamental rights, and normative autonomy.