Lula says rival should be disqualified over alleged Meta interference ahead of Brazil vote
The Brazilian president accuses the tech firm of favouring Flávio Bolsonaro, which it denies.
Lula says rival should be disqualified over alleged Meta interference ahead of Brazil vote
Left-wing incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face his right-wing rival Flávio Bolsonaro in the second round of voting on Sunday
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's campaign has asked for the disqualification of right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro ahead of Sunday’s final round of the presidential election, citing alleged interference by social media company Meta.
In a petition submitted to the country’s top electoral court on Wednesday, the leftist incumbent accused Meta, the tech giant behind Whatsapp, Instagram and Facebook, of restricting his content in order to help Bolsonaro’s campaign.
Bolsonaro, in turn, filed a petition calling for Lula to be disqualified over what he described as the mass spread of government posts on WhatsApp.
Meta has denied that the two campaigns were treated differently.
The move follows comments on Wednesday from UN experts, who said they were worried by reports of differences in each campaign’s ability to reach voters on Meta’s platforms.
A report led by the UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of expression said Meta must guarantee a level playing field online during the election.
It pointed to incidents including "temporary interruptions of one candidate's campaign account; differences in audience engagement, user feeds, view counts and reach; restrictions on that campaign's Instagram posts".
"Information, including from Meta employees, suggests that accounts linked to one side of the presidential race were disproportionately curtailed," it said.
Meta has denied acting to benefit either side of the election and said it would follow a Brazilian court order to treat Bolsonaro and Lula equally.
Lula’s campaign had earlier filed a complaint claiming that accounts and content connected to Bolsonaro were being boosted.
Users also said Meta’s artificial intelligence tools were failing to generate images related to Lula.
Pro-Lula supporters gathered outside Meta’s office in São Paulo on Monday, accusing the company of interfering in the Brazilian electoral process
Brazilians will vote on Sunday as Lula seeks a fourth term in office.
Bolsonaro narrowly defeated Lula in the first round of voting on 4 October, but did not reach the 50% of valid votes needed to win outright.
On Wednesday, Lula’s campaign submitted a petition to Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) asking for Bolsonaro and Alfredo Gaspar, his vice-presidential running mate, to be investigated for "abuse of economic power and improper use of social network".
The petition also asks that Bolsonaro be barred from running for office for eight years after the 2026 election.
Meanwhile, Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro, accused his opponent of "abuse of political and economic power".
He says the government used personal data from official databases to send mass messages on Whatsapp promoting social programmes.
Opinion polls indicate Sunday’s run-off will be extremely tight, with little separating the two as Brazil’s 159 million registered voters prepare to head to the polls.