Lula campaign accuses Meta of election interference over Instagram restrictions as Brazil’s electoral court demands answers within 48 hours

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s campaign has accused Meta of interfering in the election after reporting problems with his official Instagram account. The Superior Electoral Court has ordered the company to explain within 48 hours whether it reduced the reach of campaign posts and to account for irregularities in video metrics.

The campaign said Lula’s profile was prevented from promoting Instagram feed posts and that view counts on his official account were interrupted. It also reported that, before the first round, Lula’s profile and those of other left-wing leaders suddenly disappeared from Instagram search. The campaign said these incidents raised suspicions that Meta’s actions were intended to benefit Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula’s opponent in the runoff.

The court has asked Meta to detail measures applied to Lula’s official accounts and explain the reported metric anomalies. Meta’s Brazil office denied the accusations, calling them false and unsupported by facts. Lula’s campaign has filed a formal complaint with the court.

Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro are due to face each other in Brazil’s presidential runoff on October 25. Bolsonaro is the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro.