Brazil's Lula accuses Meta of election interference
BRASILIA: The campaign of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused tech giant Meta of election interference on Saturday after his social media content was allegedly blocked on the company’s platforms.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has accused technology company Meta of interfering in the country's electoral process, according to his campaign. The leftist leader is running for re-election in a runoff election on October 25, against Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula's campaign alleged that Meta's platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, blocked or restricted his content in the weeks leading up to the election. The campaign claimed that Meta prevented Lula's profile from promoting Instagram posts, disrupted the view counts of his official account, and removed his profiles from Instagram's search function before the first round of voting on September 29, in which Flavio Bolsonaro finished first.
The campaign stated that these technical issues, if true, could be an attempt by Meta to interfere in the Brazilian electoral process in favor of Flavio Bolsonaro's candidacy. Meta's Brazil office denied the allegations, calling them "simply false" and "not supported by the facts." The company stated that many of the issues mentioned affected more than just Brazil or specific accounts, and that they comply with electoral regulations while striving for a level playing field regarding the use of their platforms.
Lula's campaign has filed a complaint with Brazil's electoral court over the alleged social media blocks. Following the first round of voting, Lula launched a social media push using videos to address his online followers.
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