backNewsletter (#01/2026) on Law and Technology by Campos Thomaz Advogados
Produced by Alan Campos Thomaz and Josie Kabata
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Innovative Services
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Digital Platforms and Online Services
UK Considers Tighter Restrictions on Children’s Use of Social Media
The UK government has launched a public consultation to assess whether stronger measures are needed to protect children in the digital environment, including the possibility of restricting minors’ access to social media. The initiative draws inspiration from the approach recently adopted in Australia, where social media use has been banned for those under the age of 16. According to an official statement, the British government aims to review international evidence on the effectiveness of such restrictions and, if it decides to move forward, to consider the most appropriate way to implement them. As part of this process, government ministers are expected to visit Australia to gain first-hand insight into the experience of the first country to introduce a nationwide ban on social media for young people below that age threshold. Learn more.
Brazilian Notarial Digital Service Expands Access to the Authentication of Online Evidence
The Brazilian Notaries Public Association (Colégio Notarial do Brasil), which represents civil law notaries, has launched e-Not Provas, a digital service designed to collect, validate, and preserve content published in online environments. The platform enables users to formally evidence the existence of messages, social media posts, and website content, addressing more straightforward demands for digital proof. Developed within the e-Notariado system, the service aims to provide legal certainty to the authentication of screenshots and similar digital records. Learn more.
Idec Calls for Action Over Grok Tool Amid Risks to Fundamental Rights
Brazil’s Institute for Consumer Protection (Idec) has formally requested action from the Intersectoral Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents in the Digital Environment regarding Grok, a generative artificial intelligence tool integrated into the platform X. The Committee brings together representatives from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship, the Presidency’s Social Communication Secretariat, and the National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents. According to Idec, there are indications of violations of fundamental rights, with particularly serious implications for children, adolescents, and women. Learn more.
M&A, Investments, and Venture Capital
Brazil’s Competition Authority Suspends New WhatsApp AI Terms and Opens Investigation into Meta
Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defence (Cade), through its General Superintendence, has opened an administrative inquiry into companies within the Meta group to investigate suspected abuse of a dominant market position. The inquiry concerns new WhatsApp terms governing access by artificial intelligence tool providers to the platform. According to the authority, there are indications of exclusionary anti-competitive conduct capable of affecting markets that rely on AI solutions. As a result, Cade has ordered a preventive measure suspending the application of the new terms pending a more detailed assessment. Learn more.
Labor
Our website offers essential materials for those who want to better understand Labor. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with the latest insights and analyses. Learn more.
FinTechs, Banks, Financial Services, and Virtual Assets
Brazilian Government Considers Expanding the Central Bank’s Authority over Investment Funds
Brazil’s Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, has stated that he has submitted a proposal to the government to expand the regulatory perimeter of the Central Bank, transferring to it the regulation and supervision of investment funds — responsibilities that currently lie with the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM). According to the minister, the proposal reflects the growing overlap between investment funds, the financial system, and their impact on public accounts, and has gained further momentum following Federal Police investigations into fraud schemes involving investment funds, in the context of the Banco Master case. Learn more.
Artificial Intelligence
Anatel Voices Support for Bill Establishing a National Artificial Intelligence System
Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) has submitted its position to the National Congress regarding Bill No. 6,237/2025, which proposes the creation of a National System for the Development, Regulation and Governance of Artificial Intelligence. The agency welcomed the initiative put forward by the Executive Branch and expressed its support for the establishment of the system, as well as for the designation of the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) as a residual regulator tasked with mitigating conflicts of jurisdiction, particularly in sectors already subject to specialised regulation. The bill’s legislative pathway has yet to be defined, with requests pending for it to be joined to Bill No. 2,338, which addresses the broader legal framework for artificial intelligence. Learn more.
Privacy and Data Protection
ANPD Extends Deadline for Submission of Information on Compliance with the Digital ECA
Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) has extended the deadline to 13 February 2026 for companies subject to the obligations of the Digital Statute of the Child and the Adolescent (ECA Digital) to submit information on the technical and organisational measures adopted to implement the new legislation. The extension forms part of an ongoing monitoring process led by the Authority’s General Coordination for Enforcement, which involves 37 companies deemed significant due to their reach and influence among children and adolescents in Brazil. The initiative aims to map compliance practices and assess the level of regulatory preparedness across the affected sectors. Learn more.
Proposal Strengthens Anatel as a Potential National Cybersecurity Authority
Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) has been identified as a potential national cybersecurity authority under a proposal put forward by the Institutional Security Office and discussed within the National Cybersecurity Committee. The initiative has received support from ministries including Finance, Defence and Communications, although it still depends on a decision by the federal government’s leadership and further review by the Chamber for Foreign Relations and National Defence of the Government Council, followed by consideration by the National Congress. The proposal has also encountered resistance, particularly from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services. Learn more.
HealthTechs
Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice Upholds Statutory Patent Terms and Rejects Extension for Ozempic and Rybelsus
Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa has barred the entry of several so-called “weight-loss pens,” GLP-1–based products that lack authorization to be sold or used in the country. The ban covers items such as T.G. 5, Lipoless, Lipoless Éticos, Tirzazep Royal Pharmaceuticals and T.G. Indufar, following growing evidence of illegal sales and advertising, including online promotion. The agency emphasized that medicines without Brazilian registration may only be imported under exceptional circumstances, strictly for personal use and with a medical prescription; however, when Anvisa issues a specific prohibition, even this limited form of importation is no longer allowed. Learn more.
Sports Betting, E-Sports, and Gambling
Rio Grande do Sul Court Orders Removal of Compulsive Gambler from Online Betting Platforms
The Court of Justice of the State of Rio Grande do Sul has ordered two online betting platforms to exclude from their systems a consumer diagnosed with gambling disorder, following financial losses exceeding BRL 129,000. The decision was issued by Justice Sérgio Fusquine Gonçalves of the Nineteenth Civil Chamber, in ruling on an appeal filed by the bettor, who alleged that the companies failed to comply with statutory responsible gambling obligations, particularly in the face of clear signs of compulsive behaviour. Learn more.
Tax
Law Extends Tax Relief for IoT Devices and Satellite Systems Until 2030
Law No. 15,320/2025 has been enacted, extending tax exemptions for machine-to-machine communication systems — commonly referred to as Internet of Things (IoT) devices — as well as for small satellite ground stations. The statute was signed into law by the President of the Republic without vetoes and prolongs the incentives established under earlier legislation. It maintains the exemption from installation and operating fees charged by the Telecommunications Inspection Fund (Fistel), the Audiovisual Sector Fund (Condecine), and the Contribution for the Promotion of Public Broadcasting, with validity through 2030. Learn More.
President Lula Enacts Taxpayer Protection Code and Tightens Rules Against Habitual Tax Debtors
Complementary Law No. 225/2026 has been enacted, establishing Brazil’s Taxpayer Protection Code, a nationwide framework governing the relationship between taxpayers and tax authorities. The law was signed by the President of the Republic with vetoes and consolidates taxpayers’ rights, guarantees and duties, while also introducing tax compliance programmes aimed at reducing disputes, increasing transparency and encouraging voluntary compliance with tax obligations. Learn More.
Intellectual Property
Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice Reaffirms Author’s Exclusive Right to Choose a Pseudonym
Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (STJ), through its Third Panel, has ruled that a publishing house may not create a pseudonym to sign a literary work without the author’s consent, even where there has been a full assignment of economic rights. On this basis, the court dismissed the publisher’s special appeal and upheld its conviction to pay moral and material damages to a writer whose work was released under fictitious names unilaterally chosen by the company. Learn more.
Federal Regional Court Upholds Publisher’s Conviction for Plagiarism of Embrapa’s Technical Works
Brazil’s Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF-1), through its Fifth Panel, has unanimously upheld the conviction of a publishing house for plagiarism and counterfeiting of technical manuals produced by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). The court held that the literal and unauthorised reproduction of excerpts from technical and scientific works, without proper attribution, constitutes copyright infringement, even where the content is of a technical nature. The panel dismissed the publisher’s appeals and fully confirmed the first-instance judgment. Learn more.
Media, Entertainment, and Digital Influencers
Broadcasters Propose Using Gaispi Funds to Expand Access to TV 3.0
Organisations representing Brazil’s broadcasting sector have submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Communications to allocate approximately BRL 1.3 billion from potential budget surpluses of the Spectrum Clearing Entity (Empresa Administradora da Faixa) to the acquisition of around 1.9 million reception kits compatible with the TV 3.0 standard. The funds are linked to obligations arising from the 3.5 GHz spectrum auction and are overseen by the Group for Monitoring the Implementation of Solutions to Interference Issues (Gaispi), under the leadership of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). The initiative aims to support the initial rollout of the new digital television technology. Learn more.
AgriTech
Brazil’s Supreme Court Reviews Constitutionality of Mandatory Carbon Credit Investments by Insurers
Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court (STF) has begun, in virtual plenary session, the review of a lawsuit challenging the requirement that insurance companies, private pension funds and reinsurers allocate part of their technical reserves to the purchase of carbon credits. The action was filed by the National Confederation of Insurance, Private Pension, Life, Supplementary Health and Capitalisation Companies against a provision of Law No. 15,042/2024, which established the Brazilian Emissions Trading System. To date, only the reporting justice, Flávio Dino, has cast a vote, finding the requirement unconstitutional. Learn More.
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