Second round of presidential elections in Brazil: candidates demand disqualification of opponent due to social media abuses

Both candidates — incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the son of the former president, Flávio Bolsonaro — have called for the disqualification of their opponent over allegations of abuses on social media, according to court documents and statements from campaign representatives, writes the BBC.

President Lula da Silva's campaign team stated on Tuesday that they would file a motion on Wednesday to disqualify Bolsonaro due to alleged election interference by the technology giant Meta.

Bolsonaro's team responded with their own lawsuit, accusing Lula of "abuse of power" related to the mass dissemination of government messages on the WhatsApp messenger during the election campaign.

Lula is vying for a fourth term as president, but is currently slightly behind the son of former leader Jair Bolsonaro, who is in prison.

In the first round, held in early October, Bolsonaro garnered 47% of the votes against the incumbent president's 45%. In pre-second-round polls, which will take place on Sunday, voters' preferences are almost evenly split.

As a source in Lula's campaign headquarters informed AFP, the motion was initially expected to be filed on Tuesday with Brazil's Superior Electoral Court over alleged "algorithm manipulation" by Meta aimed at reducing Lula's chances of winning.

However, Lula's campaign coordinator, Senator Camilo Santana, later told reporters that the motion would be filed on Wednesday.

This was first reported by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.

According to a source at the Supreme Electoral Court, a meeting between Meta representatives and lawyers from both campaign teams took place at the court on Tuesday.

On Monday, the court gave Meta 24 hours to prove compliance with an injunction regarding equal treatment for both campaign teams, threatening a daily fine of about $200,000 in case of non-compliance.

This injunction followed a statement from Lula's campaign, which accused Meta, owner of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, of suppressing its content on the network to support Bolsonaro.

"We have completed the implementation of the measures necessary to comply with the decision of the Superior Electoral Court," the company stated on Tuesday.

Lula's campaign also reported inconsistencies in the operation of an artificial intelligence tool in WhatsApp, noting that campaign content related to Lula was restricted, while Bolsonaro's content remained unchanged.

Meta denied taking any actions in favor of either side in the elections, but previously stated that some of Lula's campaign ads were mistakenly deactivated due to technical glitches.

The company reported that now only officially registered candidates and parties can place ads on its networks.

Meta also reported that it removed 720 posts containing AI-generated content that was not properly labeled.

Meta's Oversight Board, based in London, also stated that it had identified recurring issues in handling content related to the Brazilian presidential elections and the US Congressional elections.

On Monday, dozens of Lula's supporters protested outside the company's offices in São Paulo, holding placards and chanting slogans like "Meta, get out of Brazil."

Lula also accused the American government of interfering in the elections in favor of Flávio Bolsonaro.

US President Donald Trump has not yet explicitly supported 45-year-old Bolsonaro but called his unexpected success in the first round "a very, very big victory."

The result of the first round seems to have energized the left: since then, Lula's camp has organized mass rallies and sought to intensify its social media activities.

Lula called the first-round result unexpected. "I admit that I was convinced I would win in the first round. The game has just begun. We have extra time, and in this extra time, we will bring the Brazilian people to our side," he said.

Bolsonaro, for his part, stated that he was very pleased with the result. "Very pleased with the real possibility that in three weeks Brazil will get a final answer by choosing a modern government," AFP quotes the politician.

During the previous elections, four years ago, Lula narrowly defeated Jair Bolsonaro.

80-year-old Lula, a representative of the left-wing Workers' Party, has already served as president three times, including two consecutive terms from 2003 to 2010. Many believe that during his time as president, he managed to lift millions of Brazilians out of poverty with the help of a cash transfer program for the poor, known as Bolsa Família.

Before being elected president, Lula was a metalworker, and when he left office, his approval rating exceeded 80%. However, Lula's party experienced several serious corruption scandals. The president himself spent a year and a half in prison (from 2018 to 2019) after being convicted of corruption and money laundering; he always denied these charges.

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