Lula Closes Gap With Flavio Bolsonaro Ahead of Brazil’s Presidential Runoff
Less than two weeks before Brazil’s decisive presidential runoff on Oct. 25, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has narrowed the gap with his right-wing challenger, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, though the race remains deadlocked in a technical tie. A survey by Datafolha released Thursday shows Lula trimming his opponent’s lead from four points to two, […]
Brazil's incumbent President Lula da Silva has recently narrowed the gap with his right-wing challenger, Flavio Bolsonaro, in the lead-up to the Oct. 25 presidential runoff. According to a Datafolha poll, Lula now leads with 49% of valid votes, compared to Flavio Bolsonaro's 51%. The race remains technically tied. Lula has been working to energize his base through street mobilization and implementing tough measures on public security, including lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 for violent offenses.
Meanwhile, Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, has pushed for a broader reduction to age 16 for general offenses and 14 for severe crimes. A bitter dispute has also erupted over social media neutrality, with Lula's campaign accusing US tech giant Meta of practicing "algorithmic selectivity" in favor of the Bolsonaro campaign.
The digital sphere has seen allegations of Meta's AI assistant on WhatsApp refusing to generate election posters supporting Lula, while creating them for Flavio Bolsonaro. TSE ordered Meta to ensure strict neutrality between the Workers' Party and the Liberal Party, threatening heavy fines for noncompliance and demanding robust measures to stop foreign-funded electoral propaganda.
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