Key facts
- Presidential candidates Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro will participate in their first televised debate on October 18.
- Bolsonaro holds a slight advantage in polls for the October 25 runoff.
- Lula's coalition accused Meta platforms of restricting his account and promoting Bolsonaro's.
- Meta denied political bias, citing global technical glitches.
Brazilian presidential candidates Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro are set to participate in their first televised debate on October 18, just one week before the election runoff. Supporters of both candidates held rallies across Brazil on Sunday, with Bolsonaro's supporters donning the national colors of yellow, green, and blue in Sao Paulo, while Lula's supporters wore red in Brasilia. Polls indicate a close race for the October 25 runoff, with Bolsonaro holding a narrow lead after finishing nearly 2 percentage points ahead of Lula in the initial round on October 4. Both candidates aim to sway the approximately 33 million voters who abstained in the first round. The debate, scheduled for 8 p.m. local time (2300 GMT) and to be broadcast by Band, follows the cancellation of the last debate in the first round. Tensions have been heightened by a dispute over Meta's platforms, with Lula's coalition alleging that his Instagram account was restricted while Bolsonaro's profile and WhatsApp channel were recommended to users. Meta has denied any political bias, attributing the issues to global technical glitches.