Geneva/Rio De Janeiro; October 2026: United Nations experts has pointed out in a statement today (Thursday – 22nd October 2026) that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has "disproportionately restricted" the activities of accounts related to a specific candidate during the Brazilian presidential election.They also raised issues that Meta's generative AI tool, Meta AI, rejected requests to generate images related to President Lula while producing campaign promotional materials favorable to his right-wing rival, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.
President Lula's camp has raised issues regarding Meta's bias, pointing to restricted exposure of Instagram posts and differences in reach. While Meta did not explicitly mention which candidate's camp was subject to the restrictions. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s campaign team is formally requesting the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to disqualify the presidential ticket of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, based on evidence that Meta of has been illegally favoring him through recommendation mechanisms and artificial intelligence tools.
The electoral judicial investigation action (known as an Aije) points to possible irregularities in how the systems of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp are working. Lawyers for the Lula campaign say recommendation mechanisms, generative AI features and ad review procedures have been operating in Flávio’s favor and to Lula’s detriment.
The complaint also cites episodes involving Meta’s AI tools and Grok, from X. It says the tools generated propaganda tied to the PL candidate. They refused to produce similar content for the president.
Lula’s campaign lawyers argue that the episodes could amount to abuse of economic power and improper use of the media. The request for an investigation rests on those grounds. Another point is the atypical algorithmic amplification of the profile of Rep. Nikolas Ferreira, a Liberal Party ally of Flávio Bolsonaro from Minas Gerais who is Bolsonaro’s most popular supporter on social media.
The complaint mentions data showing that Ferreira’s campaign videos have reached tens of millions of views. That tops the numbers from profiles with much larger followings such as Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Neymar, Virginia Fonseca and Beyoncé. The complaint also cites a test. The same video posted by Ferreira drew 396,400 views on TikTok and 56.1 million on Instagram.
The United Nation experts has criticised that "when the scope of posts exposed to users is reduced, the opportunity to voice opinions in the public sphere and the power to mobilize supporters can be weakened. Algorithms, AI systems, and content moderation decisions must not become invisible referees". The UN experts who participated in this statement are special rapporteurs handling the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, the independence of judges and lawyers, the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, and the situation of human rights defenders.
However, UN special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council, and their announcements do not represent the official stance of the UN.
This announcement by the UN experts came as Brazil's Superior Electoral Court ordered Meta on the 19th to prove within 24 hours that it is treating President Lula and Senator Bolsonaro equally.
Previously, Lula's camp filed a complaint alleging that Meta is intentionally suppressing the online content exposure of President Lula. Supporters of President Lula also held a protest on the 19th in front of Meta's office building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, protesting suspicions of election interference. In addition to Facebook and Instagram, Meta owns WhatsApp, a messaging app used by more than 90% of the Brazilian population.
Regarding the protests from President Lula's camp, Meta stated, "While technical errors can occur, this does not mean political bias", and has asserted "content related to both candidates is handled equally without discrimination".
Just 03 days ahead of the runoff elections on the 25th of this month (October 2026), President Lula and Senator Bolsonaro are locked in a tight race in the polls. In a runoff poll released today by polling firm Quaest, Senator Bolsonaro is leading President Lula with 45% support compared to Lula's 44%.
Team Maverick.
