Meta employees acknowledged in internal communications that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Instagram accounts were negatively affected by restrictions during the country's election, Folha de S.Paulo reported on Friday. The messages also indicated the platform recommended challenger Flavio Bolsonaro's profile and WhatsApp channel.
Allegations of election interference by a major social media platform can impact public trust in electoral processes and the reach of political campaigns.
Employees at Meta acknowledged in internal communications that the Instagram accounts of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were negatively affected by restrictions during the country's election, newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported on Friday, citing messages it reviewed. The messages also acknowledged that the platform recommended the profile of challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, as well as his WhatsApp channel, according to the report.
Lula's campaign accused Meta of election interference on Saturday after his social media content was allegedly blocked on the company's platforms. The campaign claimed that Meta prevented Lula's profile from promoting Instagram feed posts and that a post from his official account experienced an interruption in view counts, affecting its reach. It also said that prior to the first round of voting, the profiles of Lula and other leftist leaders "suddenly disappeared from Instagram's search function."
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) gave Meta 48 hours to clarify whether it reduced the reach of posts by Lula's campaign and to explain the reported irregularities. Meta's Brazil office denied the charges, calling them "simply false" and "not supported by the facts," and stated that many of the technical issues mentioned did not affect only Brazil or specific accounts.
Pick the topics you care about. Get only what matters, on your cadence.