RIO DE JANEIRO, October 12. /TASS/. The campaign team of Brazilian President and re-election candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has accused Meta (designated as an extremist organization in Russia) of interfering in the electoral process, the G1 news outlet reported.
Lula’s team also announced its intention to appeal to the Superior Electoral Court and file a complaint against Meta with the National Data Protection Agency. The candidate’s campaign team noted that algorithms on social media platforms owned by Meta reduced the visibility of published campaign content to users. "A series of technical glitches, which the company has failed to explain, raises serious suspicions that Meta’s actions constitute an attempt to interfere in Brazil’s electoral process in favor of Flavio Bolsonaro’s candidacy. The complete lack of transparency about the company’s systems means that explanations on this matter are extremely scarce and unclear," the news outlet quoted the campaign team as saying.
Meanwhile, in a statement to Brazil’s Globo TV network, Meta called the allegations false and stated that it complies with Brazilian election law.
Following the first round of Brazil’s presidential election on October 4, neither candidate managed to reach the 50% threshold required to win. Bolsonaro, who secured 47.03% of the vote, and Lula da Silva, who garnered 45.16%, advanced to the runoff. The decisive round is scheduled for October 25. In the remaining two weeks, both finalists face a fierce battle to mobilize undecided voters in the country’s largest metropolitan areas in the southeast. According to Brazilian experts and media outlets, Bolsonaro has emerged as the frontrunner.