The story so far: On Sunday (October 11, 2026) the election campaign of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva accused the tech giant, Meta (parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram) of deliberately restricting and blocking social media content of the leader on its various platforms, particularly Instagram.

What happened?

Mr. Lula, who is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term in the ongoing electoral run in Brazil, is up against far-right candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

In the run-up to the elections (the final round will be conducted on October 25), his campaign team, in a statement wrote that Mr. Lula’s profile was prevented from promoting posts on Instagram which severely affected his reach. It further states that post the first round of voting, which took place on October 4 wherein Mr. Bolsonaro came out on top, Mr. Lula’s and other left leaders’ profiles “suddenly disappeared from Instagram’s search function.”

The statement added that, “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”.

How has Meta responded?

Meta’s Brazil office denied the charges, calling them “simply false” and “not supported by the facts.” The company said that it was committed to ensuring a level-playing field during elections, and that such glitches were global and not just localised in Brazil with the intention to tamper anyone’s candidacy.

Has this happened before?

This is not the first time where Meta, formerly Facebook, has been accused of election interference. The most infamous example of the same was the Cambridge Analytica scandal in the U.S. which dealt with the 2016 presidential campaign between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

A personality-based pop-up quiz allegedly collected personal data, such as political preferences, from users on Facebook, which was transferred to Cambridge Analytica, a third-party political consultancy which worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign. The firm used the data to profile voters and target them with personalised ads and content which, critics say, influenced voter behaviour and preferences.

The scale of the data breach was exponential — it became apparent that the data of up to 87 million users was shared with the U.K.-based political firm. After the news became public via a whistleblower who used to work in the firm to harvest data from Facebook, Facebook admitted that “improper transfer” of data had happened and suspended the political consultancy from its platforms. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg later apologised for the data breach before a Congressional committee of the U.S., stating that “We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I’m sorry”.

In India, too, Facebook has been accused of favouring one political party over another. In 2022, an investigation conducted by The Reporters’ Collective and ad.watch of over 5 lakh political ads during the 2019 elections revealed that Facebook was offering cheaper rates to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) than its opponents. It also identified scores of “dummy” or “surrogate” ads, which are advertisements run by so-called third parties rather than the official party accounts, which are not governed by the electoral code of conduct rules and regulations that official party handles have to follow. These ads were allowed to promote a particular party and attack its opponents without clearly disclosing their political affiliations.

However, Meta denied all the charges and said that, “we apply our policies uniformly without regard to anyone’s political positions or party affiliations”.

The campaign of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva accused tech giant Meta of election interference on Saturday (October 11, 2026) after his social media content was allegedly blocked on the company’s platforms.

Editorial | Past forward: On Brazil’s presidential election, the first round

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

In a statement, Mr. Lula’s campaign reported instances where platforms owned by Meta — the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram — allegedly restricted the distribution of his content.

The campaign claimed 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.”

It also said that prior to last Sunday’s (October 4) first round of voting — in which Flavio Bolsonaro finished first — the profiles of Mr. Lula and other leftist leaders “suddenly disappeared from Instagram’s search function.”

“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,” the statement added.

Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on Saturday (October 10) gave the social media giant 48 hours to clarify whether it reduced the reach of posts by Lula’s campaign and to 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.

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

“Many of the technical issues mentioned did not affect only Brazil or specific accounts,” Meta told AFP in an email.

“We comply with electoral regulations and are committed to a level playing field regarding the use of our platforms.”

Mr. Lula’s campaign has filed a complaint with the electoral court over the alleged social media blocks.

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

Thousands of Brazilian students marched in downtown Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday (October 7, 2026) to protest against the possibility of Flávio Bolsonaro winning the presidency, after the far-right candidate received more votes than incumbent and left-leaning Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election.

A sea of red-clad demonstrators made their way between two historical squares in Rio’s center, chanting and holding signs referencing Brazil’s sovereignty and democracy in the South American country, which they said were under threat.

“We’re fighting for Brazil, not for Lula,” said Talita Amaral, a 19-year-old environmental science student at a nearby university. She was wearing Brazil’s yellow and green soccer jersey, often worn by supporters of Bolsonaro, which she said was a gesture aimed at reclaiming the national colors.

“We don’t have time to be sad, we need to be doing this, occupying the streets, sending messages in WhatsApp groups, trying to convince people,” Amaral said, as the chant “Olé olé olé ola, Lula Lula” rang out across Cinelandia square.

Neither Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro who is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup, nor Lula received more than the required 50% of the vote needed to become Brazil’s leader on Sunday. Therefore, they will face each other in an unpredictable runoff on Oct. 25.

But Flávio Bolsonaro has at least two advantages: He received 2 million more votes than Lula on Sunday and the candidates who placed third, fourth and fifth are all on the right of the political spectrum. They gathered 6 million votes between them.

Mr. Bolsonaro is under investigation for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion because of his ties to the failed Banco Master — a case that many protesters in Rio made reference to on Wednesday.

Some pointed to Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, during which 700,000 people were reported to have died from the disease, while others held signs emblazoned with messages such as “Brazil isn’t anyone’s backyard” and “I don’t vote for someone who sells Brazil.”

Many on the left fear a Flávio Bolsonaro presidency would fully align the Brazilian government with the United States because of the proximity in ideologies between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Bolsonaro family. Last year, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods and imposed sanctions on a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, citing Jair Bolsonaro’s trial, which he called a “witch hunt.”

“If Bolsonaro wins, Brazil will become a colony of the United States,” said João Victor Vieira, 20, who studies literature. He said that Bolsonaro represented a threat to minorities such as people of color, women and the LGBTQ+ community. Bolsonaro’s father was notorious for homophobic remarks.

Mr. Vieira said that while he was initially dispirited following the results on Sunday, he has since regained hope.

“This protest shows that social movements are still very much alive,” he said. “We will resist.”

Brazil’s leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday (July 2, 2026) lashed out at his right-wing rival Flavio Bolsonaro for looking to postpone potential U.S. tariff hikes until after the South American country’s elections.

Polls are projecting a tight race between leftist Mr. Lula and Mr. Bolsonaro — the son of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro — in the October presidential ballot.

U.S. tariffs have become a key issue throughout the campaign, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration proposing 25% tariffs on some Brazilian goods.

In a document sent to the United States Trade Representative on Wednesday (July 1, 2026), Mr. Bolsonaro suggested “postponing implementation until after the October vote.”

The delay would prevent the rate hike from being interpreted “as an attempt to influence the outcome” of the elections, he said.

Mr. Lula blasted the request in a post on X.

“Asking that the brutal rate hike against our country be postponed until after the elections is yet another act of treason against the homeland,” he said.

Mr. Trump will decide by July 15 whether to impose the measure, which Mr. Lula accuses Mr. Bolsonaro of pushing by allegedly lobbying the White House.

The right-wing presidential candidate denies the accusations, and last week stated that he had requested to testify at a hearing to prevent the introduction of the tariffs.

Mr. Trump maintains close relations with right-wing leaders across Latin America, including Bolsonaro senior, who was convicted of plotting a coup in 2022.