The Federal Prosecutor’s Office for Citizen Rights has opened an administrative procedure to investigate the actions of Meta — responsible for digital platforms and services such as Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp — in cases involving content removal, account suspensions, and reduced reach of posts during the 2026 electoral period. The measure was adopted following a representation submitted by ARTICLE 19 Brazil and South America, Conectas Human Rights, Sleeping Giants Brazil, and CTRL+Z.
The decision grants a request made by the organizations to investigate reports of restrictions imposed on users, communicators, student movements, civil society organizations, and social collectives. A survey by CTRL+Z had gathered around 1,100 cases of alleged irregularities in content moderation carried out by the company’s platforms. Of this total, 72 emblematic cases were selected to support the complaint submitted to the MPF. The company’s failures also include a lack of adequate transparency regarding the criteria adopted and the absence of effective guarantees to challenge the decisions taken.
According to the PFDC, the investigation will seek to verify whether the measures adopted by the companies comply with constitutional parameters protecting freedom of expression, access to information, political participation, and due process, as well as the obligations established in the Marco Civil da Internet and the determinations set by the Supreme Federal Court regarding platforms’ transparency duties.
In the decision, the PFDC ordered an official letter to be sent to Meta so that the company may provide clarifications on the criteria used in the reported cases, including information on the use of automated moderation systems, the review and appeal mechanisms made available to users, and internal procedures aimed at identifying and correcting errors.
The representation draws attention to the possibility of a “reverse systemic failure.” In the Supreme Federal Court’s decision on the liability of digital platforms for third-party content, systemic failure refers to the absence of adequate measures to prevent or remove unlawful content. In this case, the concern is with the opposite problem: the adoption of moderation measures that systematically remove or restrict legitimate content, undermining freedom of expression, access to information, and participation in public debate.
The organizations stress that the representation does not question the need for content moderation on digital platforms. The goal is to ensure that decisions capable of restricting fundamental rights are adopted with transparency, adequate reasoning, proportionality, and effective mechanisms for challenge. It also seeks to verify the existence of possible systemic failures that may have led to the improper removal of legitimate content and content of public interest.
The opening of the procedure is an important step toward strengthening transparency and accountability among digital platforms. In a context in which social networks play a central role in public debate and in the circulation of information, oversight and control mechanisms are essential to ensure that platform governance is compatible with human rights and democratic principles.
ARTICLE 19 Brazil and South America will continue to follow the developments of the investigation and advocate for transparency, accountability, and due process mechanisms that ensure the protection of freedom of expression and access to information in the digital environment.
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