BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil's government said on Tuesday it is "seriously concerned" about Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)' recently announced changes to its hate speech policy, adding that it believes they do not comply with the country's legislation.
Facebook owner Meta last week reduced curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity, while also scrapping its fact-checking program in the United States.
The Brazilian government ordered the social media company, which also owns Instagram and Threads, to explain its plans, which President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had previously labeled "extremely serious."
Brazil is a top market for Meta, where government data show Facebook alone has about 100 million active users. Social media platform X was temporarily suspended in the country last year for not complying with local law.
The government did not immediately clarify which aspects of Meta's policy might be illegal, but said the latest changes "could represent fertile ground for the violation of laws that protect fundamental rights of Brazilian citizens."
Local legislation forbids some forms of hate speech, such as racial slurs and remarks that attack people for their religion.
Meta in a letter to the South American country reiterated that changes to the fact-checking program for now would only apply to the U.S., and said that changes to its community standards were "limited" to the hate speech policy.
The move, the company added in the document shared by Brazil's government, was aimed at securing greater freedom of expression.
The office of Brazil's solicitor general (AGU) in a statement criticized Meta, saying that "some aspects" of the letter caused the government "serious concern." It highlighted the changes to the hate speech policy, which apply to Brazil.
"AGU and other ministries understand that the current terms of use, as well as the changes now informed by Meta, do not fit with Brazil's legislation and are not sufficient to protect fundamental rights," it added.
Brazil will hold a public hearing later this week to discuss the topic with experts.
The country's Supreme Court last year suspended X's local operations for more than a month over the social media platform's failure to comply with court orders, including some related to moderation of hate speech.
X owner and billionaire Elon Musk at the time denounced Justice Alexandre de Moraes' orders as censorship, but X later complied with the court demands, including blocking some accounts, in order to resume its service in Brazil.