Lula wins court order against Meta over alleged pro-Bolsonaro bias ahead of Brazil runoff

BRASÍLIA — A judge on Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has ordered Meta to take immediate steps to give President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro equal treatment across its platforms ahead of the 25 October presidential runoff.

Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze ruled on Thursday that Meta may not reduce the distribution of political content, restrict searches or remove posts in a way that creates an imbalance between the two candidates, and must apply identical criteria to both campaigns through its artificial-intelligence tools. The company faces a fine of 500,000 reais (about $98,000) for each day it fails to comply.

The ruling followed a complaint by Lula’s campaign accusing Meta — owner of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — of using biased algorithms and AI restrictions to favour Bolsonaro. The campaign’s filing, seen by The Associated Press, alleged Lula’s materials suffered “unjustified reductions in reach” while Bolsonaro-linked accounts received artificially inflated visibility.

It comes days after the TSE gave Meta 48 hours to explain anomalies in the metrics on Lula’s official accounts. Meta told Reuters that the technical issues cited were already public and said “any suggestion that Meta favors one side is false.”

Flávio Bolsonaro won the first round on 4 October with 47 per cent of the vote to Lula’s 45 per cent.

Read next: Brazil election: Flávio Bolsonaro beats Lula in first round · More on this story in our Lula-Brazil election hub.