Politics
Meta Employees Admit Restrictions on Lula’s Instagram Accounts During Brazil Election
Internal Meta communications, cited by the Brazilian daily Folha de S Paulo, confirm that the Instagram accounts of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were negatively affected by restrictions during the country’s election. The messages also note that the platform recommended the profile of Lula’s challenger, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, and his WhatsApp channel. Meta told Reuters that the technical issues mentioned were already public and that the conversations referenced the severity of those issues, not political interference. “Any suggestion that Meta favors one side is false,” the company said. Lula, the left‑wing incumbent, will face right‑wing challenger Bolsonaro in a presidential runoff on October 25, after Bolsonaro’s stronger‑than‑expected performance in the first round. The report follows a Thursday ruling by Brazil’s top electoral court ordering Meta to provide equal treatment of the two candidates ahead of the runoff. Judge Marco Aurelio Bellizze ruled that Meta cannot reduce the distribution of political content, restrict searches or remove posts in a way that creates an imbalance between Lula and Bolsonaro, and must apply identical AI criteria to both candidacies. The judge also imposed a fine of 500,000 reais ($98,700) per day for non‑compliance. Lula’s party reported that some of his posts appeared without a share button and had reduced reach, with missing options for reactions, sharing, audio or accelerated speed.