In Brazil’s heated presidential contest, both frontrunners have filed court petitions seeking to disqualify one another amid accusations of social media interference. The escalating dispute comes ahead of the runoff election scheduled for October 25.
On October 20, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s campaign announced plans to request the disqualification of right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, citing alleged election interference by the technology company Meta. Lula’s team alleges that Meta manipulated algorithms to suppress his campaign content while favouring Bolsonaro. The complaint was expected to be formally submitted to Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court on October 21, according to campaign officials.
Later the same day, Bolsonaro’s campaign responded by filing a counter-complaint accusing Lula of “abuse of power” through the extensive dissemination of government posts via WhatsApp during the electoral period. Both candidates are intensifying legal and public relations efforts as the margin between them remains razor-thin following the first round of voting.
In the October 2 first round, Flavio Bolsonaro secured 47 percent of the votes compared to Lula’s 45 percent. Polls in the run-up to the runoff indicate a technical dead heat, heightening the stakes of any judicial decisions regarding the integrity of the election process.
The Superior Electoral Court has scrutinized Meta’s role in the campaign, ordering the company on October 19 to ensure that it maintains equal treatment of both campaigns across its platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. The court threatened fines approximately equal to US$200,000 per day if Meta failed to comply.
Meta affirmed on October 20 that it had implemented measures to follow the court’s directives. The company also reported removing 720 posts containing artificial intelligence–generated content that lacked proper disclosures and restricting advertising on its platforms to candidates and parties registered with the electoral authorities.
However, Lula’s campaign coordinator, Senator Camilo Santana, highlighted ongoing concerns about discrepancies in how WhatsApp’s artificial intelligence tools moderated content, alleging restrictions disproportionately affected pro-Lula material while leaving Bolsonaro content unaffected. Meta has denied engaging in partisan behaviour, attributing some issues to technical errors that led to unintended deactivation of certain ads from Lula’s campaign.
The legal disputes have fueled public demonstrations, with dozens of Lula supporters protesting outside Meta’s São Paulo offices on October 19, demanding the company’s withdrawal from the Brazilian electoral process. Meanwhile, Lula has also voiced accusations against the U.S. government, alleging interference in favour of Bolsonaro, though Donald Trump has yet to formally endorse Bolsonaro. Trump did, however, describe Bolsonaro’s strong first-round showing as a “very, very big victory.”
The outcome of the election will determine whether Brazil, a nation of more than 210 million people, continues under leftist leadership or shifts toward a right-wing administration aligned with Trump’s political orbit. Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, currently serving a 27-year house arrest sentence for attempting a coup following his defeat in 2022. The younger Bolsonaro has promised to free his father if elected.