Meta Unseats Musk as Tech Villain for Lula in Brazil’s Election

(Bloomberg) -- A new villain is emerging in the closing stretch of Brazil's bitterly contested presidential election: Meta Platforms Inc.

The social media giant has been ordered by Brazil's electoral court not to interfere with the distribution of political or election-related content after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's campaign accused it of "repeatedly and systematically" failing to deliver his content to users across its platforms. The United Nations has also called out the company, and even US lawmakers are demanding answers.

The spat with Meta is reopening a fight over the power of social media companies that has been brewing in Brazil for years. It's a deja vù of the clash between Brazilian authorities and Elon Musk over his X platform, which escalated into judges ordering the removal of content and accounts accused of spreading disinformation during the 2022 election and culminated in the service being briefly banned in the country two years ago.

At stake is the outcome of the contest to lead Latin America's largest economy. With Lula and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro tied in polls ahead of Sunday's runoff, reaching the right audience could be key in defining the result of the election unfolding in one of Meta's most lucrative markets.

Lula — who has attracted more than 10 million supporters to a WhatsApp channel dubbed "Lula's Army" in recent days — has alleged interruptions to his account, restrictions on Instagram posts and unequal audience engagement. His campaign also said Meta AI, the company's generative artificial intelligence tool, is refusing requests to create images related to Lula while generating campaign material favorable to his opponent.

Spokespeople for Meta in Brazil referred to the company's statement on Oct. 16 pushing back against the interference claims and calling the incidents cited by the Lula campaign as unrelated technical problems rather than evidence of political bias. Meta said that it has taken steps to address those issues and that it treats all candidates equally.

But by then it had already become the target of blame for leftists. Lula supporters have protested alleged election interference in front of Meta's Brazil headquarters in Sao Paulo, and in a letter to Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, US lawmakers led by Bernie Sanders said they were "deeply concerned about credible reports of Meta platforms restricting or suppressing content."