Brazil Court Orders Meta to End Election Algorithmic Bias

The Superior Electoral Court of Brazil has ordered Meta to ensure equal treatment of presidential candidates Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro ahead of the October 25 runoff election. Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze issued the ruling after Lula's campaign alleged that Meta used biased algorithms and AI restrictions to favor Bolsonaro, including the inability of users to generate images of the president via Meta AI.

The court found a flaw in Meta's screening tool, though it determined there was no evidence the bias was deliberate. Meta now faces a daily fine of 500,000 reais (approximately $98,000 to $99,000) if it fails to stop unjustified restrictions on political content and report its AI criteria. In response, Meta has temporarily stopped recommending candidates and generating images of them.

Internal communications reported by Folha de S.Paulo suggest Meta employees acknowledged that Lula's Instagram accounts were negatively affected while Bolsonaro's profile and WhatsApp channel were recommended. Additionally, a study by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro found that Meta allowed over 1,600 irregular political ads funded primarily from the United States. Meta has denied allegations of political bias, attributing the issues to global technical glitches and anti-fraud measures.

Lula and the Workers' Party of Brazil are attempting to overturn a first-round deficit of 2.22 million votes through grassroots mobilization in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Following the court ruling, Lula's camp announced plans to file a complaint with the Organization of American States alleging social media manipulation.