Sentence of the 7th Civil Court of the District of Ribeirão Preto / SP dismissed the request of a youtuber to condemn the party required to grant the verification seal to his profile on the social network Instagram. In addition, the decision determined that the plaintiff should bear the costs, procedural expenses and attorneys’ fees arbitrated at R $ 1,000.00.
In the specific case, the youtuber maintained the ownership of a channel with more than 2.4 million views, in addition to being a singer and having his biography mentioned on Wikipedia. Circumstances that, according to the plaintiff, would fulfill the “authentic, exclusive, complete and remarkable” account requirements, required for the granting of the seal of authenticity.
The company that owns the social network pointed out, in turn, the existence of internal policies and processes for the granting of the verification seal, which is granted to real accounts securitized by a public figure, celebrity or global brand. In this sense, it was emphasized the discretion for eventual granting and the possibility of an administrative request.
The sentence recognized that “it is not for the Judiciary to interfere in private activity and free competition”, since “the parameters for the analysis of the convenience and opportunity of granting the seal of authenticity […] are linked to internal guidelines” of the social network. In addition, it has been shown that these principles underpin not only the economic order, but also discipline the use of the internet in Brazil in the direction of the understanding of the São Paulo Court of Justice.
It was emphasized that there is no obligation to grant the verification seal, considering that this procedure obeys the criteria exposed in the social network. Thus, it was stated that “it is the user who is subject to the company’s service provision criteria when creating his profile, with no legal or contractual provision forcing him to grant the verification seal, as stated in the terms of the contract and has the principle of legality ”.
Wilson Sales Belchior
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