Brazil's electoral court gives Meta 24 hours to prove equal treatment of candidates

Brazil's Superior Electoral Court has given Meta 24 hours to show that it treats campaign content from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro equally. The order comes ahead of the presidential runoff on 25 October. France 24, Le Monde and Anadolu Agency all reported the order. Anadolu Agency's headline describes it as requiring proof of "AI neutrality."

The order follows allegations by Lula's campaign that Meta is suppressing Lula's online campaign content.

The court's rulings

France 24 carried a report from AFP. According to France 24, the 24-hour order was issued on Monday, 19 October. It threatened a daily fine if Meta did not comply.

France 24 reported that on Thursday, 15 October, a judge of the court ordered Meta to apply the same rules to both candidates through the runoff, among other directives. That order carried a potential daily fine of 500,000 reais. France 24/AFP put this at about $100,000.

AFP saw a court document about Monday's ruling. According to that document, the court found that Meta had failed to show it complied with the earlier order. The court raised the penalty to 1 million reais (about $200,000) per day. France 24 quoted the ruling as saying: "The continued noncompliance, just a few days before the runoff election, demonstrates that the fine imposed was insufficient."

Le Monde reported that Lula's party has filed complaints with the Organization of American States and the United Nations.

What each side says

• Lula's campaign says Meta is suppressing Lula's online content to boost Flavio Bolsonaro. Meta owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. According to France 24, the campaign also says WhatsApp's artificial intelligence tool behaves inconsistently: it has limited Lula-related election content but not Bolsonaro-related content.
• Meta has denied taking any action to favour one side, according to France 24. The company previously said some of Lula's campaign ads were deactivated by mistake. It said this was caused by technical errors that were not limited to Brazil.
• The Superior Electoral Court found that Meta had not shown compliance and that the original fine was insufficient. This is according to the court document seen by AFP.

Background

According to France 24, Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, secured a lead over Lula in the first round earlier in October. He is the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Polls predict a close runoff, France 24 reported. Lula turns 81 next week.

What the reports do not say

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not say whether Meta responded to or complied with the 24-hour order. They do not include a response from Meta or from Flavio Bolsonaro's campaign to Monday's ruling. They do not describe the evidence behind the suppression allegations or how much content was affected. They do not explain how the order relates to AI. Vocemundi reviewed only the headline of Anadolu Agency's report and a summary of Le Monde's report. Most details beyond the core order come from a single source: France 24's report based on AFP. Vocemundi did not review the court document directly.

Analysis

The case tests how an electoral authority can enforce equal treatment on a global platform within days of a vote. If Meta shows it complied, the dispute may ease before the runoff. If the court finds it did not comply, further penalties or measures are possible. However, the reports reviewed do not describe what those measures would be. The allegations of suppression have not been substantiated in the reports reviewed, and Meta denies favouring either side. Any effect on the runoff remains unknown. The complaints to the OAS and the UN may also draw international attention to how platforms moderate election content.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.