Brazil's Lula accuses social media giant Meta of election interference amid tight run-off campaign

The campaign of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused tech giant Meta of election interference on Saturday after his social media content was allegedly blocked on the company's platforms. The leftist leader is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term in the October 25 run-off, where he will face Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro. Read moreBrazil’s Lula gears up for ‘last dance’ with run for fourth presidential term In a statement, Lula's campaign reported instances where platforms owned by Meta – the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram – allegedly restricted the distribution of his content. The campaign claimed that in recent days, Meta "prevented President Lula's profile from promoting Instagram feed posts", while a post from his official account "experienced an interruption in view counts, which affected its reach". It also said that prior to last Sunday's first round of voting – in which Flavio Bolsonaro finished first – the profiles of Lula and other leftist leaders "suddenly disappeared from Instagram's search function". Brazil 'has moved to the right progressively over the last two decades', expert says ...