Latin America is moving fast to protect democracy from excesses of big tech

Bosses of tech giants Meta, Google and X had front row seats at Donald Trump’s recent presidential inauguration. This special treatment highlighted the increasingly cosy relationship between leaders of technology companies and the White House.

Just a few weeks before the ceremony, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg had pledged to “work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more”.

Zuckerberg also highlighted, and criticised, the restrictions that the European Union and Latin American nations had put in place to legally restrict the social media giants. These include liability for moderation and limiting targeted advertising.

However, Latin America is emerging as the region which is moving fast to protect democratic institutions from misuse of social media, and other technology.

For instance, Brazil’s proposed fake news bill (Lei das Fake News) seeks to regulate social media and curb misinformation. It has faced strong opposition from Google. The bill is still under consideration by Brazil’s Congress.

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Other examples include how, in August 2024, Brazil’s Supreme Court temporarily banned X for failing to comply with legal requirements, including blocking social media accounts accused of spreading misinformation linked to the 2022 election. X had also failed to appoint a local legal official.

The platform remained suspended until October 8 2024, when X complied with the court’s orders, paid fines totalling 28 million reals (£3.9 million), and appointed a legal representative.

The court decision has been part of a broader effort in Brazil to protect its democracy and restrict potential disruption from use of technology or social media.

This push intensified after allies of then president Jair Bolsonaro used social media to spread misinformation (ahead of the 2022 elections), and then attack democratic institutions, and mobilise supporters in the lead-up to the January 8 2023 attacks on government buildings.

Digital platforms were used to spread false claims of voter fraud and discredit mainstream media as well as spread misinformation about Bolsonaro’s opponents. These efforts fuelled conspiracy theories and protests, which later turned violent. In response, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court tightened regulations, ordering platforms to remove false election claims.

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But the region’s regulatory efforts extend beyond social media into other emerging technologies. Colombia, Ecuador and Chile – among others – are currently debating regulations of artificial intelligence (AI) and looking at AI’s human rights and environmental impact.

Chile was the first country to recognise neurorights (brain rights) in its constitution, ensuring protections against the misuse of neurotechnology, such as brain-computer interfaces that could read or manipulate thoughts, emotions or cognitive processes. These developing technologies could be used in medicine, but also raise ethical concerns about privacy and cognitive freedom.

Political leaders across Latin America also regularly challenge global technology leaders over their effect on society. Chile’s president, Gabriel Boric, has criticised Elon Musk’s support for far-right movements. Brazil’s president, Lula da Silva, said the world did not have to put up with Musk’s “far-right free-for-all just because he is rich”. Brazil’s first lady, Janja Lula da Silva, was even more direct. During a global summit on social media regulation, she declared: “I’m not afraid of you, fuck you, Elon Musk.”

History of authoritarianism

Many people in Latin America remember how political power was abused in the recent past to undermine democracy. During the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s in countries such as Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, many businesses supported repressive regimes.

After the coup in Chile in 1973, Augusto Pinochet’s authoritarian government privatised industries and cut social protections with help from the Chicago Boys, a group of US-trained Latin American economists. The regime crushed dissent through state violence, and imprisoned and tortured thousands of people.

In the early 1970s, Chilean president Salvador Allende had tried to establish the Cybersyn Project, an ambitious initiative to create an economic planning system using networked telex machines and an early form of algorithmic decision-making. It was designed to enhance state control over the economy, while reducing dependence on foreign corporations. But Cybersyn was dismantled after the US-backed military coup that installed Pinochet’s dictatorship.

Today, Latin America may be better positioned to counter foreign influence than it was in the 1970s. Brazil’s leadership at the recent G20 global summit, where it successfully pushed for social media and artificial intelligence regulation, showed that there is a regional will to push back against the demands, and power, of Silicon Valley’s technology giants.

The question is whether these countries can sustain their efforts against pressure from big companies, economic pressure (such as tariffs) and shifting geopolitical alliances. If they do, Latin American nations could provide a much-needed counterweight to corporate influence, and an example to the rest of the world of what could be achieved.

Sebastian Smart receives funding from FONDECYT-Chile