Ahead of Brazil Vote, Lula Camp Seeks Rival's Disqualification Over Alleged Meta Interference; Bolsonaro Files Counter-Petition
Ahead of the final round of Brazil's presidential election, the campaign of incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has requested the disqualification of his right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, alleging interference by social media company Meta.
Left-wing incumbent Lula will face right-wing rival Flavio Bolsonaro in the second round of voting on Sunday. The petition was filed with the country's top electoral court on Wednesday, days before that vote.
Lula's campaign accuses Meta, the tech giant behind WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, of limiting its content in order to boost Bolsonaro's campaign.
In response, Bolsonaro has filed a petition seeking to disqualify Lula over what he said was the mass dissemination of government posts on WhatsApp. Meta has denied that the campaigns have been treated unequally.
UN experts also said on Wednesday that they were concerned about reports of discrepancies in the ability of each campaign to reach voters on Meta's platforms.
A report led by the UN's special rapporteur on freedom of expression said Meta must ensure a level playing field online during the election. It cited incidents including temporary interruptions of one candidate's campaign account, differences in audience engagement, user feeds, view counts and reach, and restrictions on that campaign's Instagram posts.
The report read: 'Information, including from Meta employees, suggests that accounts linked to one side of the presidential race were disproportionately curtailed.'
Meta has denied taking action to favour one side of the election and has said it would comply with an order from a Brazilian court to treat Bolsonaro and Lula equally.
Lula's campaign had previously filed a complaint alleging that accounts and content related to Bolsonaro were boosted. Users also reported that Meta's artificial intelligence tools were not generating images related to Lula. On Monday, pro-Lula supporters gathered outside Meta's office in Sao Paulo, accusing the company of interference in the Brazilian electoral process.
In the petition filed on Wednesday to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Lula's campaign asked for Bolsonaro and his vice-presidential candidate, Alfredo Gaspar, to be investigated over 'abuse of economic power and improper use of social network.' The petition also seeks to make Bolsonaro ineligible to stand for election for eight years following the 2026 election.
Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro, has meanwhile accused his rival of 'abuse of political and economic power.' He claims the government used personal data taken from official databases to send mass messages on WhatsApp promoting social programmes.
Brazilians will head to the polls on Sunday as Lula seeks a fourth term in office. Bolsonaro beat Lula in the first round of voting on 4 October by a narrow margin, but fell short of the 50 percent of valid votes needed to win outright. Opinion polls suggest Sunday's run-off will be extremely close.
