Meta Denies Bias as Brazil Court Orders Lula, Bolsonaro Parity
“Any suggestion that Meta favors one side is false,” the company said, adding that its rules apply equally to all candidates.
The denial followed a report by a leading Brazilian newspaper, which cited internal messages it had reviewed. According to the report, Meta employees acknowledged that restrictions had hampered Lula’s Instagram accounts, and that the platform had recommended Bolsonaro’s profile and WhatsApp channel.
Lula’s campaign alleged that some of his posts had no sharing options, reached fewer users and suffered technical glitches affecting audio and user interactions. His camp said it would file a complaint with the Organization of American States, accusing Meta of manipulating social media during the election.
Meta said the technical problems were already public, and that the internal conversations dealt with how severe they were, not with political interference.
Court Order Targets Reach and Chatbot
On Thursday, a justice at Brazil’s top electoral court barred Meta from unjustifiably limiting the reach of political content tied to either candidate during the runoff campaign. The ruling also directed Meta AI, the company’s chatbot, not to favor either candidate in election-related content.
The dispute follows a stronger-than-expected first-round showing by Bolsonaro, who now faces Lula in the second round. Lula’s administration has pushed for tighter regulation of technology platforms, including measures aimed at illegal content and misinformation.
Separately, researchers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro found that Meta allowed at least 1,613 irregular political ads between July and September. The ads drew 171 million views and generated roughly 2 million reais ($400,000) in revenue.
Meta said it would keep defending itself against the lawsuit.
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