Meta employees acknowledged in internal communications that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Instagram account was negatively affected by restrictions during Brazil's election, according to media reports.
Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported on Friday that the internal messages also confirmed the platform promoted the profile of Senator Flavio Bolsonaro — Lula's rival — along with his WhatsApp channel. Folha said it reviewed the messages.
Meta told Reuters that the technical issues mentioned in the report had been publicly disclosed previously and that the exchanges in question concerned only the severity of the problem, not political interference. The company said: "Any suggestion that Meta favors one side is false."
Lula, the incumbent left-wing president, will face right-wing candidate Bolsonaro in the presidential runoff on October 25, after the senator outperformed expectations in the first round of voting earlier this month.
Friday's report came shortly after a Brazilian court ruling on Thursday ordered Meta to immediately apply fair treatment to both candidates ahead of the decisive round. The ruling was issued by a judge at Brazil's supreme electoral court, shortly after Lula filed a complaint accusing the tech giant — owner of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — of using biased algorithms and AI restrictions to favor opposition candidate Bolsonaro ahead of the election.
Judge Marco Aurelio Bellizze ruled that Meta must not reduce the distribution of political content, restrict search or delete posts in a way that creates an imbalance between Lula and Bolsonaro. The ruling also required the company to ensure its artificial intelligence tool applies identical criteria to both candidates. Bellizze said Meta would face a fine of 500,000 reais ($98,700) per day for non-compliance.
According to Lula's party, some of his posts appeared without a share button and had reduced reach. Options for reactions, sharing, audio or acceleration were also missing.
