Brazil: Issued Senacon fine against Meta for displaying alleged false paid advertising against government program Desenrola

On 16 November 2023, the National Consumer Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Senacon) announced that it had imposed a BRL 150'000 daily fine on Meta, the parent company of Facebook, for displaying false paid advertising against government program Desenrola. Previously, on 26 July 2023, Senacon issued an order requiring Facebook and Google to delete advertisements containing misinformation about the Desenrola Brasil program. The Desenrola program was launched by the national government in order to renegotiate bank debts, and after its launch, the Senacon stated that fraudulent advertisements were displayed on online platforms. Furthermore, the platforms were required to submit transparency reports regarding the measures adopted to limit the dissemination of advertising containing misinformation and the decisions taken on each flagged content.