Brazil’s electoral court orders Meta to treat Lula and Bolsonaro equally

Meta has pledged equal platform access for Brazil’s political parties. Now a judge has ordered it to ensure equal treatment of the presidential finalists before the October 25 runoff. The October 15 ruling follows President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s allegations of biased algorithms and unequal AI restrictions—claims Meta rejects.

Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze of Brazil’s top electoral court issued the order with the race between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro approaching its final vote. Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, received 47% in the October 4 first round, compared with 45% for the incumbent. The two will face each other again on October 25, 2026.

The order covers distribution and AI access

Bellizze directed Meta to take immediate measures. His ruling addresses both how political material reaches users and how the company’s AI tool handles the candidates. It bars several forms of platform intervention when they create an imbalance between the two campaigns, rather than addressing only the visibility of a particular post.

• Distribution: Meta cannot reduce the distribution of political content in ways that create an imbalance between Lula and Bolsonaro.
• Search and removals: The same requirement applies to restricting searches or removing posts in ways that disadvantage one candidacy.
• AI: The company must ensure its artificial intelligence tool applies identical criteria to both candidacies.

500,000 reaisDaily penalty for noncompliance

Bellizze set a fine of 500,000 reais, approximately $98,000, for each day Meta fails to comply with the order.

Lula’s complaint challenges reach and image generation

The Associated Press, which obtained the campaign’s legal filing, reported that Lula’s team alleged unjustified reductions in the reach of campaign materials and organic posts—posts distributed without paid promotion. The complaint also accused Meta of failing to comply with a plan it had submitted to the electoral court to address those problems.

The AI allegation concerns Meta AI inside WhatsApp. According to the complaint, users could not generate campaign images related to Lula but could generate images supporting Flávio Bolsonaro. That alleged difference concerns access to an image-generation tool, alongside the campaign’s separate objections to how its existing material was distributed across Meta’s services.

Lula’s lawyers, Gean Ferreira and Evelyn Santos, also alleged that accounts and advertisements associated with Bolsonaro received artificially inflated visibility. They pointed to engagement figures rivaling those of global celebrities and described the contrast as selective treatment favoring the opposition. Those are the campaign’s allegations, disputed by Meta, rather than independently verified measurements of political bias.

The campaign sought more than an end to the alleged restrictions. It asked the court to pressure Meta to double its reach to compensate for lost traction. That requested remedy would address distribution the campaign says it had already lost; the requirements described in Bellizze’s order focus on securing equal treatment immediately.

Meta points to technical glitches

Meta had given the court its response on October 11, as Lula supporters began complaining about their use of its tools. The company rejected accusations that it was skewed toward Bolsonaro. It acknowledged technical glitches but said they affected accounts beyond Brazil, offering a technical explanation rather than accepting the campaign’s account of political favoritism.

The company also told the court it operates in full compliance with Brazil’s electoral rules and is committed to equal access for all political parties. That statement preceded Bellizze’s ruling. When asked about the order itself, Meta declined to comment to the Associated Press.