Beyond Copy-Paste: The Brussels Effect and the Evolution of Digital Law in Brazil

Abstract

The recent growth of the information technology sector around the world and, consequently, its challenges, have resulted in an increased interest in regulation. Given this scenario, the European Union (EU) has been seeking to take the lead in regulating new technologies so as to expand its influence in the legal field, in such a way that other countries have been adopting the European model. Thus, the EU is frequently the first to establish new obligations for tech companies, and many countries tend to follow the EU’s regulatory footsteps, as part of a phenomenon known as the “Brussels Effect”. In this context, Brazil’s current approach to regulating the digital environment provides a good illustration of the Brussels Effect, most notably in the examples of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and current legislative debates similar to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. The paper also discusses the characteristics of legal transfers in the context of the Brussels Effect, highlighting that it is not an unilateral legal transplant, but actually a transfer that takes place through local adaptations, as showcased by the Brazilian scenario. However, transfers tend to follow an unilateral direction from the Global North to the Global South, which is demonstrated by the previously mentioned legal imports Brazil has made. Therefore, this paper concludes that the Brazilian example can assist in understanding the implications of the Brussels Effect, in particular how this phenomenon can manifest itself through local adaptations of laws and regulations that fit the receptive country’s needs.