Meta denies political bias in Brazil after court ruling

By Gizem Nisa Demir

ISTANBUL (AA) - Meta on Friday denied politically favoring Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro after a court ordered the company to treat him and incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva equally ahead of their Oct. 25 runoff.

Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported, citing internal messages it reviewed, that Meta employees acknowledged restrictions had hindered Lula's Instagram accounts and that the platform recommended Bolsonaro's profile and WhatsApp channel.

Lula's campaign alleged that some of his posts lacked sharing options, received reduced reach and had technical issues affecting audio and user interactions.

His camp also said it would file a complaint with the Organization of American States, accusing Meta of manipulating social media during the election.

Meta said the technical issues were already public and that the internal conversations concerned their severity, not political interference.

"Any suggestion that Meta favors one side is false," the company said, adding that its rules apply equally to all candidates.

- Irregular political ads

On Thursday, a justice at Brazil's top electoral court ordered Meta not to unjustifiably restrict the reach of political content related to either candidate during the runoff campaign.

The ruling also required Meta AI, the company's chatbot, not to favor either candidate in election-related content.

The dispute comes after a stronger-than-expected first-round performance by Bolsonaro, who will face Lula in the second round.

Lula's administration has pursued tighter regulation of technology platforms, including measures targeting illegal content and misinformation.

Separately, a study by researchers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro found Meta allowed at least 1,613 irregular political ads between July and September, generating 171 million views and approximately 2 million reais ($400,000) in revenue.

Meta said it would continue to defend itself against the lawsuit.

Gizem Nisa Çebi Demir