Brazilian Court Orders Meta to Stop Using News Content Without Permission

A São Paulo court has ordered Meta to stop collecting, copying, storing or using journalistic content published on Brazilian media companies' websites — the first ruling of its kind anywhere in the world, according to O Globo's editorial board.

Judge Guilherme Madeira Dezem of the 44th Civil Court of São Paulo granted the preliminary injunction in early May. He acted on a joint petition from three industry bodies: the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ), the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Companies (Abert) and the National Association of Magazine Editors (Aner).

The decision targets Meta — owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — over its use of journalistic content without authorization, particularly to train its artificial intelligence systems.

What did the judge actually say?

Judge Dezem did not mince words. In the ruling, he wrote: "Impor aos veículos de comunicação a entrega gratuita e universal de seu patrimônio autoral como pedágio para permanecerem conectados aos canais em que o público contemporâneo consome notícias constitui manifesto abuso do direito e enriquecimento sem causa, ferindo os postulados da boa-fé objetiva e da função social dos contratos."

In plain terms: forcing publishers to hand over their copyrighted material for free, just to stay visible where audiences consume news, amounts to abuse of rights and unjust enrichment.

Days after the ruling, Meta postponed for the second time the entry into force of terms of use that would have forced media companies to allow access, copying and storage of reports, photographs and videos published worldwide — with no compensation. O Globo's editorial called it "an implicit authorization for theft."

The platforms, the editorial argues, see no problem with stripping intellectual property and "seek every kind of subterfuge to justify the unjustifiable" in pursuit of audiences and ad revenue.

Why the injunction may not be the final word

The measure is provisional, and O Globo warns that platforms have spared no effort to overturn unfavorable rulings in higher courts. That is why the editorial pushes the issue toward Brasília: Brazil's Congress, it argues, must regulate digital content use so the judiciary has proper tools to end what it calls unprecedented intellectual property theft.

Three legislative tracks are now in play:

• The Social Networks Bill (PL das Redes Sociais). The provision stipulating remuneration for the use of journalistic content has been split from the original bill and is stalled in the Chamber of Deputies.
• The AI Legal Framework (Marco Legal da IA). Already approved by the Senate, it would require tech companies to pay copyright holders for mining, training and developing AI on protected content. "Esta é a grande questão: deixar clara a remuneração pelo uso do conteúdo, em qualquer fase," said rapporteur Deputy Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-PB).
• A competition bill. A third proposal under review in the Chamber aims to strengthen competition regulation, protecting consumers and economic sectors from the threats created by digital monopolies.

The framing matters for lawmakers: this is not about slowing technology down, but about guaranteeing progress without permitting theft, as the editorial puts it.

What's at stake beyond Brazil

If Congress gives the topic the attention O Globo demands, Brazil could take the international lead in fighting the appropriation of others' content — a test case for publishers worldwide watching how far a single injunction can go.