Brazil’s Lula wins electoral court challenge against Meta for alleged pro-Bolsonaro algorithm bias

SÃO PAULO — A judge of Brazil’s top electoral court ruled Thursday that Meta must adopt measures to immediately secure equal treatment of the two presidential candidates ahead of an Oct. 25 runoff.

The ruling comes shortly after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is running against Flávio Bolsonaro, filed a complaint that accused the tech company that owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp of using biased algorithms and AI restrictions to favor opposition candidate Bolsonaro ahead of the election.

Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze ruled that Meta cannot reduce the distribution of political content, restrict searches or remove posts in a way that creates an imbalance between Lula and Bolsonaro. His ruling also orders the company to ensure its artificial intelligence tool applies identical criteria to both candidacies.

Bellizze said in his ruling that Meta must pay a fine of 500,000 reais ($98,000) per day if it fails to comply.

Brazil's presidential race heads to a runoff

The legal filing of the Lula campaign, to which The Associated Press had access, said Meta has subjected Lula’s campaign materials and organic posts to “unjustified reductions in reach.” It also said Meta has not complied with a plan submitted to the electoral…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business