Arab News | Lula’s party to complain about Meta ‘interference’ in Brazil elections before regional body

BRASILIA: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s party will file a complaint against tech giant Meta before the Organization of American States (OAS), alleging election “interference,” his campaign reported Wednesday.

The leftist leader is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term in an October 25 runoff, where he will face Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.

His party maintains that Meta is harming his campaign by restricting his online content, which the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram denies.

“It’s time to denounce (Meta) before the international community, starting with the OAS,” party Communications Secretary Eden Valadares told reporters, adding that Lula himself had ordered the move.

His campaign earlier claimed that Meta in recent days “prevented President Lula’s profile from promoting Instagram feed posts,” while a post from his official account “experienced an interruption in view counts, which affected its reach.”

It also said that prior to last Sunday’s first round of voting, in which Flavio Bolsonaro finished first, the profiles of Lula and other leftist leaders “suddenly disappeared from Instagram’s search function.”

Meta’s Brazil office denied the charges, calling them “simply false” and “not supported by the facts.”

The incumbent’s campaign called a Thursday meeting with international election observers to discuss the alleged interference.

Lula has claimed that the United States is trying to interfere in the elections in favor of Flavio Bolsonaro, whose father is an ally of US President Donald Trump.

Following the first round of voting, Lula — who does not use a mobile phone — launched a social media push that includes videos of him addressing his online followers.