Brazil’s Electoral Court Presses Meta Over Alleged Bias Ahead of Runoff
Brazil’s electoral court is examining whether Meta treated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and challenger Flávio Bolsonaro equally on its platforms ahead of the Oct. 25 presidential runoff. Reports of internal company messages acknowledging restrictions on Lula’s Instagram account have fueled allegations that Meta’s systems gave Flávio greater visibility. Meta denied favoring either campaign…
Brazil's electoral court is investigating Meta over allegations that the tech company's platforms favored Flávio Bolsonaro over incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ahead of the Oct. 25 presidential runoff. According to the source, reports of internal company messages suggest Meta restricted Lula's Instagram account and favored Flávio's profile on Instagram and WhatsApp.
However, Meta denies favoring either campaign in its Oct. 19 filing with Brazil's Superior Electoral Court, known as the TSE. The company outlined additional safeguards and requested a meeting with the judge, who had previously ordered them to prevent artificial reductions in the reach of political-electoral content. Meta also claimed a technical failure caused a recent issue with Lula's campaign being unable to pay to boost Instagram posts.
The court has yet to determine if Meta's measures satisfy its requirements, raising questions about platform restrictions that Lula's campaign alleges were unfair.
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