Oversight Board Finds Excessive Anti-Fraud Curbs On Lula's Ads Amid Meta Bias Claims
Brasilia, Brazil: Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won a fourth term in office, defeating his right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro. The contested presidential election has seen dramatic exchanges and unprecedented developments in the country. Lula won the election for the historic fourth term, securing 51% of the votes.
President Lula’s campaign team had alleged that Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, had favoured Bolsonaro during the election campaign. Corraborating the allegations, Meta’s oversight board recent found “enforcement failures” in the moderation of content relating to Brazil’s presidential election.
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According to the statement by the oversight board, the Meta platforms allegedly used excessive anti-fraud policies against President Lula’s ad accounts. Meta has rejected claims of political bias.
During the election campaign, president Lula’s campaign had sought the disqualification of right-wing challenger alleging interference by social media company Meta. The president accused Meta, the tech giant behind Whatsapp, Instagram and Facebook, of limiting its content to boost Bolsonaro’s campaign.
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A US report had pointed out incidents including temporary interruptions of one candidate’s campaign account; differences in audience engagement, user feeds, view counts and reach; restrictions on that campaign’s Instagram posts. It had also asked Meta to ensure a level playing field online during the election.
