The government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) restricted the activities of Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency), which regulates ECA Digital (Children and Youth Digital Ordinance), sparking conflicts in the telecommunications sector. The controversy stems from a conflict over who should oversee Brazil’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) and major tech companies.
By approving the law, which establishes new responsibilities for digital platforms (such as social networks and games) and creates measures to protect children and adolescents online, Lula vetoed Anatel’s participation in the implementation of the law.
Subsequently, through a Decree, the ANPD (National Data Protection Authority) was designated as the government agency responsible for protecting children and young people in the digital environment.
Business people and sector regulation experts have called for changes, arguing the government’s decision is a regulatory “tortoise” that will cost oversight of big tech companies.
“It’s a blow to Anatel,” said businessman Viviane Suluazy, president of Feninfra, an association representing more than 137,000 infrastructure companies and telecommunications service providers. “There is a childish fear of doing what is rightly due, which is giving Anatel its rightful role in regulating this new digital world.”
For her, Lula’s government chose the worst course instead of strengthening Anatel, an already established regulatory body with more than 1,300 civil servants, a national structure and international support. “If we start everything from scratch, it will cost the state more,” he says. “Anatel has the highest quality servers and its advisors have advanced technical knowledge to handle any issues.”
The statute was approved in September following accusations by YouTuber Felka of unfair monetization and adultization of children on online platforms.
In this law, Congress gave Mr. Anatel a leading role in ordering the stopping of infringing companies. However, Lula vetoed this provision, arguing that it was unconstitutional, since the organization of the federal executive is the exclusive responsibility of the President of the Republic.
The topic is considered sensitive as the ANPD, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Justice, could become the agency overseeing issues of AI and fake news if the project, which is already being processed, goes ahead. In negotiations with President Donald Trump’s administration over 50% tariffs, Lula’s administration has also put regulations on big tech companies on the table, including content regulations.
The government has sent a bill (temporary measure) to Parliament that will turn the ANPD into a regulatory body. He has built a career as an expert in data protection regulation, working on legislative reforms to strengthen the protection of personal data in Brazil, including the application of ECA Digital to protect children and adolescents online.
Senator Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE), MP Rapporteur and author of the ECA Digital Law, said he did not see any risks in choosing ANPD. “She could make structural adjustments to give her the ability to do her job,” the senator said. “Anatel was already focused on other things, and perhaps that was the point that motivated this definition.”
Vieira doesn’t expect lawmakers’ opinions to include attribution to the ANPD for monitoring the use of AI. “We don’t want to innovate anything. If it is finally understood that it has to be ANPD, then ANPD will have to go through a new reorganization to have a sector structured enough to cover this,” he says.
Ricardo Campos, an expert on digital services regulation and a professor at Frankfurt University in Germany, sees setbacks. “Brazil is moving towards something unprecedented in the world, giving regulatory powers to data protection authorities to regulate big technology companies. This is Brazil’s Jabuticaba,” said Campos, who assisted Sen. Vieira in preparing the ECA Digital Project.
“Do you know which regulators are chosen to apply European law? Anatel in Germany, Anatel in Portugal, and so on in all other countries,” he stresses. “Brazil will be the only country in the world without dialogue, and regulating big tech companies is a global coordination issue,” he said. For him, decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis and will have a negative impact on global coordination between government agencies.
“There have never been any restrictions on Anatel’s work,” said the presidential office’s SECOM communications office. According to Palácio do Planalto, the parliamentarians created 200 positions in the data protection regulation profession and 18 positions in the commission and trust sector by transforming 797 vacant permanent positions without increasing costs.
When contacted, Anatel said it respects the president’s decision and understands that the veto stems from a legal interpretation of the initiative’s flaws. However, given that the ANPD was established only five years ago and had recently been transformed into a regulatory body, he considered it reasonable to have concerns about the regulatory and operational issues arising from the new responsibilities given to the ANPD. Anatel is 28 years old.
“All intermediaries with the digital sector, such as access to platforms, the distribution of data, and the provision of services, are structurally dependent on communication networks, the regulation of which is Anatel’s responsibility,” he said.
The Brazilian Chamber of Digital Economy (camara-e.net), an association representing the main platforms and digital service providers operating in Brazil, such as Meta, TikTok, Google, Amazon and Mercado Pago, says that the definition of competent authorities on this topic falls within the scope of institutional and political decisions legally taken by those in power.
“Irrespective of the chosen configuration, it is essential to ensure that the designated authorities have the necessary technical, operational and governance conditions to maintain a technical and balanced dialogue with all actors involved in the implementation of public policy.”
The Ministry of Communications said in a statement that it supports Anatel’s enhanced role in ongoing cybersecurity regulations.
The Ministry of Justice emphasizes that the ANPD already has integrated experience and that this model follows the international trend for data protection authorities to also take on complex cases involving rights in the digital environment. ANPD did not respond to requests for information.
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