A judge on Brazil’s top electoral court ordered Meta on Thursday to ensure equal treatment of presidential candidates Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro across its platforms ahead of the October 25 runoff, imposing a daily fine of 500,000 reais ($98,000) for noncompliance, The Associated Press reported.

Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze ruled that Meta must not limit the distribution of political content, restrict search results, or remove posts in ways that create an imbalance between the two candidates. The order also requires the company to apply identical criteria to both campaigns through its artificial intelligence tools.

The decision followed a complaint filed by Lula’s campaign accusing Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, of using biased algorithms and AI restrictions to give Bolsonaro an advantage in the presidential race. Meta declined to comment on the ruling.

Lula campaign accuses Meta of restricting campaign content

The legal filing, obtained by The Associated Press, said that Meta had imposed “unjustified reductions in reach” on Lula’s campaign materials and organic posts. It also accused the company of failing to implement a plan submitted to the electoral court to address the alleged restrictions.

Lula’s campaign further claimed that accounts and advertisements associated with Bolsonaro had received artificially inflated visibility, with engagement figures comparable to those of global celebrities. Lawyers Gean Ferreira and Evelyn Santos said Meta’s content distribution favored Bolsonaro while limiting the incumbent president’s reach.

“On one hand, content from candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his supporters faces delivery restrictions, without any justification or transparency,” the lawyers said in a statement. “On the other hand, profiles acting as political operatives for the opposing side ... receive a disproportionate and artificial reach, garnering more views even than global celebrities.”

The complaint also said that Meta AI on WhatsApp treated the candidates differently, with users unable to generate campaign images related to the 80-year-old Lula while being able to create images promoting Bolsonaro. Lula’s campaign asked the electoral court to end the restrictions immediately and require Meta to double the reach of affected content to compensate for the alleged damage.

Candidates head into close presidential runoff

The ruling comes as Brazil prepares for a closely contested presidential runoff on October 25. Lula faces Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, after the opposition candidate secured 47% of the vote in the first round on October 4, compared with 45% for the incumbent.

The dispute over Meta’s platforms has added a legal dimension to the candidates’ contest, with Lula’s campaign seeking intervention from the country’s top electoral court to address what it alleges is unequal treatment in the distribution of political content.

The court’s order requires Meta to maintain equal standards for both candidates across content distribution, search functions, and AI-generated material, with the daily financial penalty applying if the company fails to comply.