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

Daily fine if Meta does not comply

500,000 reais

Justice Marco Aurelio Bellizze ruled on Thursday that Meta cannot reduce the reach of political content, restrict searches or remove posts in a way that favours one candidate. Meta faces a fine of 500,000 reais a day if it fails to comply.

Lula had accused Meta of using biased algorithms and AI restrictions to favour Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. His party said some of his posts appeared without a share button and had reduced reach.

"Any suggestion that Meta favors one side is false," the company said, after reports that employees acknowledged in internal messages that Lula's Instagram accounts were hit by restrictions. Meta said the technical issues were already public.

— Meta

Brazil

Lula, the left-wing incumbent, faces Bolsonaro in a presidential runoff on Oct 25.