Brazil's top electoral court on Thursday ordered Meta to take immediate steps to ensure equal treatment of the two presidential candidates ahead of the Oct 25 runoff election.
The ruling came after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva filed a complaint accusing the technology company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, of using biased algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) restrictions to favour opposition candidate Flávio Bolsonaro.
Electoral Court Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze ruled that Meta must not limit the reach of political content, restrict searches or remove posts in ways that create an unfair advantage for either candidate.
The company must also ensure its AI tools apply the same standards to both campaigns. Failure to comply with the order could result in a fine of 500,000 reais ($98,000) per day.
The Lula campaign's legal filing, seen by The Associated Press, alleged that Meta had unjustifiably reduced the reach of campaign materials and regular posts supporting the incumbent president. It also accused the company of failing to follow a plan submitted to the electoral court to address the concerns.
Meta declined to comment on the ruling.
Lula's campaign claimed that accounts and advertisements linked to Flávio Bolsonaro had received unusually high visibility, with engagement levels comparable to those of global celebrities.
The presidential race remains tight after Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, secured 47% of the vote in the first round on Oct 4, compared with 45% for Lula.
The complaint also raised concerns about unequal treatment by Meta's AI tools. According to the campaign, users were unable to generate campaign images supporting the 80-year-old Lula through WhatsApp's Meta AI feature but could create images promoting Flávio Bolsonaro.
Lula campaign lawyers Gean Ferreira and Evelyn Santos said Meta's content distribution system appeared to restrict material from the incumbent president and his supporters while giving greater exposure to accounts supporting Bolsonaro, an ally of US President Donald Trump.
“On one hand, content from candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his supporters faces delivery restrictions, without any justification or transparency,” the lawyers said in a statement.
They added that accounts operating as political supporters of the opposition were receiving unusually high exposure, attracting more views than some internationally known celebrities.
Lula's campaign has asked the electoral court to order Meta to immediately end the alleged restrictions and compensate for the lost visibility by doubling the reach of affected content.
On Oct 11, after Lula's supporters began raising concerns about Meta's services, the company told the electoral court that it rejected allegations of favouring Bolsonaro.
Meta acknowledged technical problems affecting accounts beyond Brazil but said it complied fully with the country's electoral rules and was committed to providing equal access to its platforms for all political parties.