Brazil’s Lula accuses Meta of election interference

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term in the Oct 25 runoff, where he will face senator Flavio Bolsonaro. (EPA Images pic) BRASILIA: The campaign of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused tech giant Meta of election interference on Saturday after his social media content was allegedly blocked on the company's platforms.

The leftist leader is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term in the Oct 25 runoff, where he will face Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.

In a statement, Lula's campaign reported instances where platforms owned by Meta – the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram – allegedly restricted the distribution of his content.

The campaign claimed that in recent days, Meta "prevented President Lula's profile from promoting Instagram feed posts", while a post from his official account "experienced an interruption in view counts, which affected its reach".

It also said that prior to last Sunday's first round of voting – in which Flavio Bolsonaro finished first – the profiles of Lula and other leftist leaders "suddenly disappeared from Instagram's search function."

"The series of technical issues... raises strong suspicions that Meta's actions constitute an attempt to interfere in the Brazilian electoral process to the benefit of Flavio Bolsonaro's candidacy," the statement added.

Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on Saturday gave the social media giant 48 hours to clarify whether it reduced the reach of posts by Lula's campaign and to explain the irregularities reported.

Meta was ordered to "report, profile by profile, all the measures applied" to "Lula's official accounts" and to "explain the anomalies in the metrics" of the videos, the TSE said.

Meta's Brazil office denied the charges, calling them "simply false" and "not supported by the facts".

"Many of the technical issues mentioned did not affect only Brazil or specific accounts," Meta told AFP in an email.

"We comply with electoral regulations and are committed to a level playing field regarding the use of our platforms."

Lula's campaign has filed a complaint with the electoral court over the alleged social media blocks.

Following the first round of voting, Lula – who does not use a mobile phone – launched a social media push that includes videos of him addressing his online followers.