Meta Faces Election Bias Protests in Brazil

A group of demonstrators protested outside Meta’s office in São Paulo on Monday, accusing the technology company of political interference in Brazil’s upcoming presidential runoff. The protest follows allegations that Meta’s platforms have treated incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and opposition candidate Flávio Bolsonaro unequally during the election campaign.

The dispute has drawn attention to the influence of social media platforms on political communication, with concerns over algorithmic recommendations, artificial intelligence restrictions and the regulation of online political advertising.

Electoral Court Orders Equal Treatment

Last Friday, Meta denied accusations of political bias, a day after Brazil’s electoral court ruled that the company must provide equal treatment to Lula and Bolsonaro ahead of their October 25 runoff.

The legal challenge was initiated by Lula’s campaign, which alleged that Meta’s algorithms and AI restrictions were being used in ways that favoured Bolsonaro. The company owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, platforms widely used for political communication and campaign outreach.

The case reflects wider international concerns about the role of social media companies in elections. Similar disputes have emerged in European countries, including Romania and Germany, where courts have intervened over alleged imbalances involving online platforms.

Meta Rejects Allegations

Meta said recent problems affecting its platforms were caused by unrelated global technical disruptions, anti-fraud measures and regulatory compliance requirements rather than deliberate political suppression.

The company maintained that its systems do not distribute content according to political ideology and insisted that its rules are applied equally.

However, Meta did not directly explain why Bolsonaro’s Instagram and WhatsApp channels received algorithmic recommendations, a practice that Brazil’s electoral court ruled illegal.

The dispute has therefore continued despite the company’s denial of intentional bias, with questions remaining over how its recommendation systems operate during the election campaign.

Technical Problems Cited

Meta pointed to two global technical disruptions earlier in October as part of its response to the allegations.

One incident affected Instagram Reels, freezing view counts in more than 100 countries while content distribution reportedly continued normally. A separate disruption briefly affected the creation of advertisements from existing Instagram posts through one of the company’s advertising tools for a day.

Meta presented these incidents as technical issues unrelated to political targeting. The company’s explanation has not, however, resolved the separate questions raised by Lula’s campaign about recommendations involving Bolsonaro’s channels.

Study Identifies Irregular Political Ads

Pressure on Meta has also increased following a study by NetLab, a research group at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The study found that the platform allowed at least 1,613 irregular political advertisements between July and September.

According to the research, the advertisements accumulated approximately 171 million views and generated around 2 million Brazilian reais, equivalent to about $400,000, in revenue. The study also reported that the advertising was funded primarily from the United States.

The findings have raised further questions about Meta’s enforcement of Brazilian electoral rules and its handling of political advertising funded from outside the country.

Brazilian Law Restricts Electoral Advertising

Communication professor Marie Santini, who was involved in the study, said Brazilian law prohibits entities other than political parties, candidates or electoral coalitions from purchasing electoral advertisements.

She argued that companies should not be able to buy advertisements on Meta’s platforms to promote an electoral campaign, regardless of whether the funding originates inside or outside Brazil.

Santini also criticised what she described as repeated failures by Meta to comply with electoral law, suggesting the concerns were not isolated to a single country.

Scrutiny of Social Media Platforms Grows

The protest and legal dispute highlight the challenges electoral authorities face in ensuring fair political competition on platforms controlled by large technology companies.

Algorithmic recommendations can influence which political messages users encounter, while online advertisements can allow campaigns and other actors to reach large audiences. Allegations of unequal treatment have therefore prompted closer scrutiny of how platforms enforce their policies during elections.

Meta continues to deny that it deliberately favours political candidates. However, the court ruling, the allegations from Lula’s campaign and the findings of the NetLab study have intensified pressure on the company to demonstrate that its systems comply with Brazil’s electoral requirements.

The dispute places renewed focus on the responsibility of technology companies to enforce political advertising rules consistently and maintain transparency as voters prepare for the runoff.