Brazilian Electoral Court Grants Meta 24-Hour Deadline to Prove Neutrality Between Lula and Bolsonaro

The Superior Electoral Court in Brazil on Monday granted US-based Meta, owner of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, 24 hours to prove that it treats President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his right-wing rival Flávio Bolsonaro with equality.

This decision came after Lula's campaign alleged that Meta was restricting its digital content to bolster Bolsonaro's position, just before the presidential runoff scheduled for Sunday.

Meta denied taking any measures aimed at favoring one side over the other, clarifying earlier that some ads related to Lula's campaign had been paused by mistake due to technical issues not limited only to Brazil.

Lula's campaign also pointed to disparities in the performance of the artificial intelligence tool on the WhatsApp app, claiming that electoral content related to Lula was restricted, while Bolsonaro's content did not face similar measures.

A judge at the Superior Electoral Court issued an order last Thursday requiring Meta to ensure that the same rules apply to both candidates throughout the runoff period, with a potential daily fine of 500,000 Brazilian reais (100,000 US dollars) for non-compliance.

However, the decision issued Monday states that Meta failed to demonstrate compliance with the judicial order, leading the court to increase the fine amount to one million Brazilian reais (200,000 US dollars) per day, according to a judicial document reviewed by AFP.

The decision stated, "The continued non-compliance, just days before the runoff, proves that the imposed fine was insufficient."