The Institutional Security Office (GSI) of the Presidency of the Republic has prepared a billing proposal for users to pay a fee for using the internet in Brazil. This Thursday (13), the government issued a press release on the subject.
In parallel to this, a report by Folha de São Paulo revealed that the GSI proposed the creation of a regulatory agency called 'ANCiber' (National Cybersecurity Agency) to enhance the governance of cybersecurity sector in the country.
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With the proposal, the government will collect R$581.9 million per year, which will be invested in the new branch. The text of the proposal has already been forwarded to the ministries and will later be analyzed by the Chief of Staff.
What would the user fee for internet usage look like?
The GSI proposal suggested the creation of 'TCiber', a cybersecurity fee that corresponds to 1.5% of the amount that users pay to have internet network access.
In the example used by the public agency, a user who pays BRL 70 monthly would have a fee cost of BRL 1.05 per month.
One of the arguments is that the same practice is already carried out on the electricity bill with the public lighting fee.
In addition, the proposal also suggests a 10% charge for registering domains on the internet, with a cost of R$35 at the time of renewal of registrations.
It is estimated a collection of R$ 12.6 million with the collection of records, according to the report on the Folha de São Paulo portal.
GSI members stated that the measure is not being well received by the population and by some commercial sectors. However, the proposal has been seen as positive by parliamentarians.
“No one in their right mind can be against cybersecurity, an initiative that aims to provide security in the digital environment for all citizens and all companies," said Brigadier Luiz Fernando Moraes da Silva, Secretary of Information Security and Cybernetics at the GSI.
What did the government say about the fee for internet users?
The GSI news had negative repercussions after the report. So, the government issued a press release informing what:
“The Secretariat for Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic informs that there is no possibility of internet user taxation to fund a cybersecurity agency or any such initiative type."
In any case, the GSI proposal needs to be approved in Congress through a bill to formalize the creation of the cybersecurity tax and agency in Brazil.