Brazil rivals seek disqualification of each other

BRASILIA

Brazil's presidential rivals Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro have moved to disqualify each other over allegations of social media misconduct, escalating tensions ahead of Sunday's runoff election.

Lula's campaign said it would ask the country's top electoral court on Wednesday to disqualify Bolsonaro over alleged election interference by Meta, the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Bolsonaro's team filed its own complaint on Tuesday, accusing the incumbent of "abuse of power" through the mass dissemination of government posts on WhatsApp during the campaign.

The legal battle follows allegations by Lula's campaign that Meta manipulated its algorithms to suppress his online content and improve Bolsonaro's chances. The court on Monday ordered the company to demonstrate within 24 hours that it was treating both campaigns equally, threatening a daily fine of around $200,000 for non-compliance.

Meta said on Tuesday it had implemented measures to comply with the order. The company has denied favouring either candidate, although it acknowledged that some of Lula's campaign advertisements had been mistakenly deactivated because of technical errors.

Lula's campaign has also alleged inconsistencies in WhatsApp's artificial intelligence tool, claiming that election-related content supporting the president was restricted while Bolsonaro-related material remained unaffected.

Meta said it had removed 720 posts containing AI-generated material that lacked proper labelling. It also restricted political advertising on its platforms to candidates and parties registered with the electoral court.

The dispute comes as the candidates prepare for a closely contested second round. Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, secured 47% of the vote in the first round earlier this month, compared with Lula's 45%. Opinion polls indicate a technical tie ahead of Sunday's vote.