As Brazil approaches a high-stakes presidential runoff, the campaign for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has escalated its conflict with Meta, the parent company of Instagram. Following the first round of voting, Lula’s legal team filed a formal complaint with the Brazilian electoral court, alleging that Meta’s platforms have been used to suppress the reach of his campaign content while favoring his opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro.

According to the complaint, Lula’s campaign experienced a 24-hour period where they were unable to boost Instagram posts, a functionality that remained available to the Bolsonaro camp. The campaign argues that this is not an isolated technical glitch but part of a broader pattern of interference. They have presented this incident to international observers as evidence of systemic bias within the platform’s moderation and advertising tools.

Beyond the specific issue of paid promotion, the campaign has highlighted a surge in reports from supporters who claim their organic content has been removed or shadow-banned by Meta’s automated systems. While the Lula campaign characterizes these actions as active interference in the democratic process, Meta has not yet provided a detailed public rebuttal to these specific allegations. The situation remains a point of contention as both sides navigate the final days of the election cycle, with the electoral court now tasked with determining whether these platform behaviors constitute a violation of campaign fairness regulations.