Tech giant Meta has come under the scanner in Brazil, where the campaign of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reportedly accused the company of election interference on Saturday, and the country's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) gave the company 48 hours to clarify whether it reduced the reach of posts by Lula's campaign.
The campaign of the Brazilian accused Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, of election interference after his content was allegedly blocked on the company's social media platforms, according to a report by the news agency AFP.
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'Prevented Lula's profile from promoting Instagram feed posts': Campaign alleges
According to the statement of Lula's campaign cited in the report, it noted instances where Meta's platforms allegedly restricted the distribution of his content.
Furthermore, the campaign alleged that in recent days, Meta "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," the report added.
{{/usCountry}}Furthermore, the campaign alleged that in recent days, Meta "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," the report added.
{{/usCountry}}It alleged that before last Sunday's first round of voting the profiles of Lula and other leftist leaders "suddenly disappeared from Instagram's search function."
The statement stated, "The series of technical issues... raises strong suspicions that Meta's actions constitute an attempt to interfere in the Brazilian electoral process to the benefit of Flavio Bolsonaro's candidacy."
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What the court said
Lula's campaign had filed a complaint with the electoral court over the alleged social media blocks, the report said.
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court TSE has ordered Meta to clarify within 48 hours whether it restricted the reach of campaign posts.
The company was asked to detail profile-level measures applied to Lula's official accounts and explain the irregularities reported.
Meta was ordered to "report, profile by profile, all the measures applied" to "Lula's official accounts" and to "explain the anomalies in the metrics" of the videos, the TSE said.
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Meta denies charges
According to the AFP report, Meta's Brazil office denied the charges. The company termed the allegations "simply false" and "not supported by the facts."
Meta told the news agency in an email, "Many of the technical issues mentioned did not affect only Brazil or specific accounts."
"We comply with electoral regulations and are committed to a level playing field regarding the use of our platforms," it added.
(with inputs from AFP)