Lawmakers split over ex-ante and ex-post regulation.
The Brazilian government's effort to establish a new regulatory framework for digital markets is facing renewed pushback after changes were introduced in a draft bill that's ready for a floor vote. A rival digital-markets proposal advancing through Brazil's Congress gives opponents of the government's bill a new avenue to challenge its ex-ante approach to regulation.
On Wednesday, Chamber of Deputies representative Aliel Machado presented substitute text for Bill 4675/2025, Brazil's Digital Markets Framework proposal, preserving its ex-ante structure while revising provisions such as designation periods, institutional arrangements within the competition authority and public-participation mechanisms.
Meanwhile, on July 1, lawmakers approved a substitute version of Bill 2768/2022, an alternative digital-markets framework authored by Rep. Any Ortiz that would rely on an ex-post competition-enforcement model rather than the ex-ante approach proposed by the government.
Machado's substitute for Bill 4675/2025 would empower the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, or CADE, to designate large digital platforms as "agents of systemic relevance" and impose tailored obligations aimed at addressing competition concerns in digital ecosystems before specific anticompetitive conduct is established.
The substitute for PL 2768/2022 proposes that intervention would begin only after complaints from professional users or rival platforms and subsequent CADE proceedings.
"We maintained an ex-post analysis in the sense that everything will begin with representations from professional users or other digital platforms," Ortiz said in the report. "The regulator will not create ex-ante restrictions and regulations unless there is a real problem in the sector."
The competing proposals are advancing on different tracks in Congress. The government’s bill, 4675/2025, is ready for consideration by the Chamber floor after lawmakers approved an urgency request in March, allowing it to bypass committee review. Meanwhile, Bill 2768/2022 must still pass through the Communications Committee and other procedural stages.
If approved by the Chamber, either proposal would still require Senate approval before being sent to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. However, the legislative calendar may complicate both bills' prospects.
Pushback
The moves comes as technology companies and trade groups continue to push back against the government's proposal, arguing that it resembles the European Union's Digital Markets Act and could impose far-reaching obligations on a small group of mostly foreign platforms.
In a July 7 letter, the Latin American Internet Association, or ALAI, whose members include Meta, Google, Amazon, Mercado Libre, TikTok and Discord, urged lawmakers not to rush consideration of Bill 4675/2025.
"The current context, marked by hybrid sessions and the natural concentration of parliamentary activities on agendas related to the electoral process, is not conducive to the consideration of structural changes of this magnitude,"
ALAI wrote.
In a statement, Apple said Brazil's proposal would mirror policies adopted in the European Union and could weaken privacy and security protections while imposing changes that neither users nor developers have requested.
"We will continue engaging with the government to ensure it understands that this proposal is not only unnecessary, but will also create a worse experience for Brazilian users and developers while exposing them to new risks,"
Apple said.
The proposal also drew attention in the US.
The Office of the US Trade Representative's 2026 National Trade Estimate Report said Bill 4675/2025 would allow CADE to classify digital platforms as "systematically relevant" and impose ex-ante obligations, including interoperability requirements and restrictions on commercial practices.
The report argued that the designation criteria would disproportionately affect US firms.
Difference between proposals
While both bills would ultimately rely on CADE following the latest substitute texts, their structures differ significantly.
The government proposal introduces the concept of an "agent of systemic relevance," while the alternative bill refers to platforms holding "essential access control power" in specific digital markets.
Under the new version of Bill 4675/2025, CADE could designate a company as an agent of systemic relevance if it exceeds revenue thresholds of 50 billion reais ($9.76 billion) globally or 5 billion reais in Brazil and also satisfies qualitative criteria such as network effects, ecosystem control, strategic intermediation and access to significant amounts of data.
The 2768/2022 bill substitute takes a different approach. It deleted the prior version’s predefined revenue triggers, and proposed that the platform would be designated only after an administrative proceeding determines that it occupies an indispensable intermediary position for professional users seeking to reach customers or other businesses in a relevant market. The process would begin only after a complaint or representation is filed with CADE.
The government's bill establishes an ex-ante framework under which large platforms can be designated and subjected to obligations before specific anticompetitive conduct is proven, and the 2768/2022 substitute bill adopts an ex-post logic. Ortiz explained the rationale in her report:
"In this substitute bill, we sought not to become tied to the ex-ante versus ex-post regulation... We have retained an ex-post approach in the sense that everything will begin with complaints filed by professional users or other digital platforms. The regulator will not create ex-ante restrictions or regulations unless there is a real problem in the sector, as evidenced by the affected parties themselves through the filing of a complaint."
The substitute creates a fast-track procedure within CADE with a statutory deadline of 245 days from the filing of a complaint, intended to accelerate decisions compared with traditional antitrust investigations, according to Ortiz.
Under the 2025 proposal, designation could last up to six years, with review after two years while, in the 2022 substitute, designation would last two years and could be renewed once.
The government's Bill 4675/2025 would create a new Special Superintendency for Systemic Relevance, Competition and Consumer Protection in Digital Markets within CADE. The 2022 substitute relies on CADE's existing structure and the authority of the Superintendence-General.
The new superintendency proposed in Bill 4675/2025 would be responsible for initiating designation proceedings, monitoring compliance with obligations, conducting market studies, reviewing digital-market dynamics and submitting recommendations to CADE's tribunal.
The substitute also would create a consultative council on digital competition, a non-sanctioning market-analysis procedure to assess developments in digital ecosystems, a predefined catalogue of possible obligations, including interoperability, transparency and restrictions on self-preferencing, and expands public-participation mechanisms
Congressional hurdles
As stated earlier, Bill 4675/2025 has been under an urgency regime since March, allowing it to be considered directly by the plenary. If approved by the Chamber, it would proceed to the Senate.
By contrast, Bill 2768/2022 still must clear the Communications Committee and other stages of committee review. Because it is moving with little opposition through committees, it may not require a floor vote unless lawmakers file an appeal.
This procedural distinction means that the government's proposal is positioned to advance more quickly, although the legislative timetable remains uncertain.
Congress is expected to begin its recess on July 18 and lawmakers return in August. The debate would then unfold closer to the election period, which traditionally slows legislative negotiations and makes agreements on complex or high-profile legislation more difficult.
*banned and designated as extremist in Russia
Source: MLex
