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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s campaign team will petition the Superior Electoral Court on Wednesday, seeking the disqualification of rival Flávio Bolsonaro over alleged election interference involving Meta.
Lula’s coordinator, Senator Camilo Santana, confirmed the legal filing following allegations that Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, suppressed left-wing campaign content while allowing right-wing posts to circulate freely.
The legal action follows an ultimatum from Brazil’s top electoral court threatening Meta with daily fines of $200,000 unless it proves equal treatment of both candidates within 24 hours.
Meta met with court officials on Tuesday, confirming it implemented corrective measures—such as restricting political advertising strictly to registered parties and removing 720 unlabelled AI-generated posts—while attributing previous campaign ad deactivations to technical glitches rather than political bias.
The court battle escalates tensions ahead of Sunday’s runoff election, where polls indicate a dead heat between the incumbent president and Flavio Bolsonaro.
The right-wing challenger, who led the first round of voting with 47 per cent over Lula’s 45 per cent, has pledged to pardon his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for attempting a coup following the 2022 election.
