BRASILIA, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Brazil's government said on

Tuesday it is "seriously concerned" about Meta Platforms' ( META )

recently announced changes to its hate speech policy,

adding that it believes they do not comply with the country's

legislation.

Facebook owner Meta last week reduced curbs on discussions

around contentious topics such as immigration and gender

identity, while also scrapping its fact-checking program in the

United States.

The Brazilian government ordered the social media company,

which also owns Instagram and Threads, to explain its plans,

which President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had previously labeled

"extremely serious."

Meta in a letter to the South American country reiterated

that changes to the fact-checking program for now would only

apply to the U.S., and said that changes to its community

standards were "limited" to the hate speech policy.

The move, the company added in the document shared by

Brazil's government, was aimed at securing greater freedom of

expression.

The office of Brazil's solicitor general (AGU) in a separate

statement said that "some aspects of the Meta document cause the

government serious concern," highlighting the changes to the

hate speech policy, which apply to Brazil.

"AGU and other ministries understand that the current terms

of use, as well as the changes now informed by Meta, do not fit

with Brazil's legislation and are not sufficient to protect

fundamental rights," it added.

Brazil will hold a public hearing later this week to discuss

the topic with experts.