On Monday, outside Meta’s offices in São Paulo, a few dozen demonstrators denounced “abusive interference in Brazilian democracy”. Sérgio Amadeu, a professor at the Federal University of ABC, is one of the organisers. On Sunday, Lula, the sitting president running for a fourth term, faces Flávio Bolsonaro, a far-right senator and son of Jair Bolsonaro, in the run-off.
1,600
irregular political ads on Meta between July and September
Ads switched off by mistake
Lula’s camp accuses Meta’s algorythms of favouring his opponent and demands his disqualification. Meta denies it, and admits only to having deactivated ads from Lula’s campaign by mistake. Its own oversight board notes “recurring failures” in its moderation.
« There is abusive interference in Brazilian democracy »Sérgio Amadeu, professor at the Federal University of ABC
1,600 ads outside the law
A study by NetLab, at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, counts at least 1,600 irregular political ads between July and September, mostly funded from the United States, for 171 million views. In Brazil, only a party, a candidate or a coalition may buy election advertising. Who governs a country when its debate runs through another’s platform?
