TSE took a proactive step by developing an alert system intended to serve as a unified channel for reporting misinformation and other inappropriate behaviour on social media, such as hate speech. The Electoral Misinformation Alert System (SIADE) managed by the electoral authority, is part of efforts to ensure freedom and fairness in voting. It results from a memorandum of understanding with major social media platforms, which have committed to prioritising the analysis of complaints submitted through this channel.

One of the most significant challenges in fighting misinformation was that many social media platforms were foreign, and developed outside the linguistic and cultural context of Brazil. This, coupled with the insufficient local teams of the platforms in the country, can delay responses to complaints. Moreover, the lack of detailed data on the platforms’ content moderation practices limits critical analysis by researchers and journalists.

The alert system was created so as to not depend only on platforms to deal with this issue. Our goal with this system was to have data on complaints across social media platforms and make it publicly available. This system provided access to complaints by users across social media platforms, to researchers and journalists, to scrutinise and verify how these complaints are being handled by each platform. In serious cases, the complaints were also forwarded to the competent authorities. This channel was simply a means to forward data; no requests were made to the social media platform regarding content moderation.

Since the SAIDE system’s implementation in 2022, several positive impacts have been noted. Major social media platform companies began to prioritise misinformation complaints from Brazil, anticipating potential criticisms for inactivity. The data on these complaints became public, allowing researchers and journalists to examine how each social media platform handles reported infractions. Additionally, the system has fostered a collaborative learning ecosystem among the public sector, academia, and civil society, promoting the sharing of knowledge and strategies to combat misinformation.

Tackling misinformation is a complex challenge, with no simple solutions. However, data accessibility is crucial in this process. In Brazil, administrative information held by the public sector must be shared, as stipulated by the Access to Information Law. Therefore, there was no reason not to open the data on the platforms’ performance to society. Transparency and social participation have proven to be crucial elements in this fight. This process not only strengthens online community guidelines of social media platforms but also promotes a healthy debate, essential for maintaining democracy. The example of SIADE shows the importance of making data available for scrutiny. It was also able to coordinate across social media platforms, demonstrating a model for joint and transparent action while protecting user privacy. Others could gain from this experience to hold social media platforms accountable for misinformation during elections.

Thiago Rondon previously served as digital coordinator for combating misinformation at both the Superior Electoral Court and the Supreme Federal Court. The views expressed are personal