São Paulo: Tech giant Meta on Friday denied accusations of political bias during Brazil’s presidential campaign, a day after the country’s electoral court ordered the platform to ensure equal treatment for incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and opposition candidate Flávio Bolsonaro ahead of their October 25 runoff.
The lawsuit was initiated by Lula’s campaign, which accused the company that owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp of using biased algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) restrictions to favour Bolsonaro. The dispute has raised fresh questions about the role of social media platforms in elections and the fairness of their content distribution systems.
Meta said a series of recent platform issues stemmed from unrelated technical glitches, anti-fraud measures and regulatory compliance requirements rather than targeted political suppression. The company maintained that its systems do not distribute content based on political ideology and that its rules are applied equally.
The company cited two global technical disruptions earlier in October. One affected view counts on Instagram Reels across more than 100 countries, although content distribution continued normally. Another briefly disrupted the creation of advertisements from existing Instagram posts through one of its tools.
Addressing concerns about Meta AI, the company said a loophole involving generic first names combined with electoral numbers had briefly prevented some users from generating images of Lula, while allowing similar requests involving Flávio Bolsonaro for another day.
The controversy arose after users reported that Meta AI refused some image-generation requests involving Lula but allowed comparable requests involving Bolsonaro. The company said it subsequently addressed the issue.
Meta’s explanation came amid concerns about the platform’s recommendation systems. Reports based on internal communications reviewed by Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo indicated that Lula’s campaign accounts had faced restrictions on promoting certain Instagram posts, while Bolsonaro’s profile and WhatsApp channel were recommended by the platform.
“Brazilian voters deserve facts, not a political narrative constructed by combining unrelated technical issues,” the company said. It added that it would continue to enforce its rules, comply with Brazilian electoral legislation, correct errors and ensure equal treatment for users.
“Meta applies the same rules to all candidates, parties, and political viewpoints in Brazil, just as it does for elections worldwide,” the company said. “We do not suppress content to disadvantage any side, nor do we grant preferential treatment to any side.”
The company maintained that each incident cited by Lula’s campaign had a direct technical explanation and did not reflect political bias.
Earlier on Friday, Folha de S.Paulo reported, citing leaked internal communications, that Meta employees had acknowledged that restrictions affected Lula’s campaign accounts. The communications reportedly showed that engineers attributed the problems to technical failures and system errors.
The dispute prompted Brazil’s electoral court to order Meta to ensure equal treatment for Lula and Bolsonaro ahead of the October 25 runoff.
The ruling requires the company to refrain from actions that could create an imbalance between the candidates, including unequal restrictions on content distribution, search visibility and recommendations. It also requires uniform criteria for AI-related restrictions, with a daily fine of 500,000 reais for non-compliance, according to reports.
The order followed complaints by Lula’s campaign about restrictions on its content and differences in how Meta’s systems handled requests involving the two candidates.
The ruling places renewed scrutiny on the power of social media companies to influence the visibility of political content during an election campaign.
Since taking office in 2023, Lula’s administration has pursued measures aimed at strengthening online protections for women and minors and increasing accountability for digital platforms. Brazil has also seen legal and regulatory efforts to address illegal content and misinformation online.
The government’s approach has drawn criticism from those who argue that greater state oversight could threaten freedom of expression. It has also contributed to tensions with the administration of US President Donald Trump over the regulation of American technology companies.
Meta has said it will defend itself against the lawsuit and rejected allegations that it deliberately favoured one candidate over another.
Meta is also facing scrutiny over political advertisements in Brazil.
A study released this week by researchers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro reportedly found that the platform carried at least 1,613 irregular political advertisements between July and September. The advertisements collectively generated 171 million views and approximately 2 million reais (about USD 400,000) in revenue, with funding reportedly coming primarily from the United States.
Brazilian electoral rules restrict who can purchase electoral advertisements. Communication professor Marie Santini, who was involved in the study, said the law does not permit companies or other unauthorised entities to purchase advertisements promoting electoral campaigns.
“In Brazil, it is prohibited for any entity other than a political party, a candidate, or a coalition to purchase electoral advertisements,” Santini said. She criticised Meta’s handling of political advertising and alleged that the company had repeatedly failed to comply with electoral rules.
The findings add to the scrutiny of Meta’s political advertising systems as Brazil approaches the presidential runoff.