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

What the ruling orders Meta to do

• Not reduce the reach of political posts unevenly
• Not restrict searches unevenly
• Not remove posts unevenly
• Apply the same AI criteria to both

Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze ruled Thursday that Meta cannot cut the reach of political content, restrict searches or remove posts in a way that favours one candidate. Its AI tool must apply identical criteria to both.

Daily fine if Meta does not comply

500,000 reais a day

Meta faces a fine of 500,000 reais (US$98,000) a day if it does not comply. The company declined to comment on the ruling.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's campaign accused Meta of using biased algorithms to favour Flávio Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro took 47 per cent in the first round on Oct 4, against 45 per cent for Lula, before the Oct 25 runoff.

Meta told the court on Oct 11 that it rejects claims of bias toward Bolsonaro. It said technical glitches had affected accounts beyond Brazil.