President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil has issued an order for a vote within 45 days on the 'Marco Civil,' the country’s groundbreaking 'people's internet' legislation, with members of Congress to vote as early as this week.
The Marco Civil represents one of the most progressive frameworks for internet policy ever drafted. It would secure the right to high-speed access and network neutrality, privacy standards against surveillance, and guarantees for freedom of expression online. Around the world, all eyes have been on Brazil's pioneering effort to govern the internet according to the rights and needs of its citizens.
But the Brazilian telco lobby has the Marco Civil's network neutrality provisions in its sights. They want to protect their business models that rely on data discrimination, threaten freedom of expression, and limit open access, so they’re negotiating with politicians to eliminate key net neutrality provisions in exchange for their support of the bill.
Last week, President Rousseff came out strongly in support of the Marco Civil’s net neutrality provisions -- but we’re not out of the woods yet. Tell the Brazilian Congress to follow Rousseff’s lead by speaking out against any proposed amendments that violate the Marco Civil’s fundamental principles.
Not only are the Marco Civil’s net neutrality protections crucial to upholding the integrity of the framework, they're an opportunity for Brazil to set international precedent. Only a handful of countries have enacted legislation upholding net neutrality, and Brazil’s leadership in this area could prove to be crucial.
There are also proposed amendments to the bill that would require large internet companies to store the data of Brazilian users in the country. While it’s time to take action to protect users’ data against surveillance and other threats, data mirroring is an ineffective, dangerous, and controversial way of doing so.
Localized data mirroring could set a dangerous precedent for countries that want to curb dissenting voices. Imposing an obligation to store peoples’ private data in their own territory could give less democratic countries easy access to the personal data of bloggers and activists. If President Rousseff and members of Brazilian Congress are serious about implementing strong user data protections, they'll have an opportunity soon: the development of Brazil’s first ever data protection bill is just months away.
For our fundamental rights,
The Access Team