Today, lawmakers discussed two government legislative proposals and a Socialist Party bill concerning the transposition into national law of directives on cybersecurity and the fight against the online dissemination of terrorist content. Concerns about freedoms, rights, and guarantees were raised by the Socialist Party, Chega, Liberal Initiative, JPP, CDS, Livre, and PCP.
During the debate, PSD deputy António Rodrigues acknowledged the concerns of other parties, who questioned the responsibility assigned to the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) to remove and block content it deems terrorist on online platforms without prior judicial decision.
“We are open to immediate intervention by the authorities,” the social-democratic deputy emphasized. “We will be available to, within the committee, analyze proposals and concerns,” he added.
The Secretary of State Adjunct and of Justice, Gonçalo da Cunha Pires, present at the debate, stated that the PJ is “the most qualified to enforce the regulation, as it is the body responsible for investigating this type of crime,” with the capability to identify publications containing terrorist content.
Gonçalo da Cunha Pires also clarified that there is a provision for appealing against PJ’s content removal decision, “ensuring the court validates the police’s decision.”
The debate focused on the competencies of the Polícia Judiciária, with Socialist deputy Pedro Delgado Alves asserting the need to “ensure a judge always intervenes to decide that content should be taken offline” and emphasized that now would be the time to “grant the National Cybersecurity Center financial autonomy, making it an independent regulator.”
From Chega, deputy Rodrigo Taxa inquired whether the government’s proposal “is accompanied by an increase in personnel.”
The vote on the two government legislative proposals and the Socialist Party bill is scheduled for Friday.
