Brazil’s ‘fake news’ bill threatens to harm internet freedom and individual rights
The Brazilian Senate approved a bill to fight fake news on 30 June 2020. The bill now goes to the lower house and will need the President’s approval afterwards. This...
COVID-19, Emergency Basic Income and the Right to Life in Brazil
The coronavirus outbreak hit Brazil at a particularly difficult moment. Since 2016, Constitutional Amendment (EC) nº. 95 is in force. The provision, dubbed the “mother of all austerity plans“, limits...
Reverse racism is coming: the backlash against race conscious politics in contemporary Brazil
In February 2020, Brazil witnessed two judicial decisions that indicate backlash efforts against race informed affirmative action policy. In one case, the Superior Court of Justice, the highest appellate court...
Gentrifying intersectionality in contemporary Brazil
On 17 October 2019, for the first time in the history of Brazil’s Supreme Court, Silvia Souza, a black woman, presented oral argument before the Justices. She represented a Human...
Brazilian Superior Court of Justice Decides that Victims of Domestic Violence are Entitled to Paid Work Leave – While New Legislation Could Hinder Their Right to an Adequate Standard of Living
The Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ) established a new precedent asserting that women who suffer domestic violence are entitled to a court-determined paid work leave of six months or...
Brazil’s top court uses anti-racism legislation to make discrimination against LGBT people a criminal offence
On 13th June 2019, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF), by a majority of 8 to 3, recognized discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as a type...
Brazilian Supreme Court Inquiry into ‘Fake News’ Violates Freedom of Speech
The Brazilian Supreme Court has begun a confidential inquiry, ex officio, to investigate alleged crimes against the honour of the Justices and ‘fake news’ about the Court. This inquiry is...
Challenges to women’s rights and the legalization of abortion in Brazil: can we move forward?
2018 was a challenging year for women’s rights in Brazil, and perhaps a taste of trials in the years to come. In October 2018, Brazilians elected a far-right president and...
Mind the Gap: the Privacy Void in Brazilian’s Public Transport
In April 2018, the agreement entered into between ADMobilize and ViaQuatro, the administrator of the yellow line of the São Paulo subway, enabled the use of a technology to collect...
Not There Yet and Running Against the Clock: The New Ordinance Regulating Racial Classification for Racial Quotas in Brazil
On April 10th, regulatory ordinance no. 4 was signed by the Human Resource Management of the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management in Brazil. The ordinance regulates the procedure of...
Brazil’s Landmark Decision on Transgender Persons’ Official Documents
Language is a powerful tool, though often overlooked by fields unattached to linguistics. Vocabulary choice is especially sensitive when addressing legal aspects of equality and non-discrimination, where the rights of...
Women’s struggle to vote in Brazil: same fight, different strategies
Women’s struggle to vote in Brazil: same fight, different strategies Women were first allowed to vote in Brazil in 1932, but their political rights only became equal to men’s in...
