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Hundreds Surround Meta's São Paulo HQ: 'Don't Meddle in Our Election'
About 300 protesters gathered outside Meta's São Paulo headquarters on October 19, chanting "Meta, don't meddle" and accusing the company's platforms of restricting Lula's content while boosting Flávio Bolsonaro. Brazil's electoral court gave Meta 24 hours to prove equal treatment of both candidates.
Why it matters
On Monday, October 19, around 300 protesters gathered outside Meta's headquarters in Itaim Bibi, São Paulo, chanting "Meta, não se meta" ("Meta, don't meddle"), demanding explanations from the tech giant over alleged interference in Brazil's elections. The protest came six days before the October 25 presidential runoff between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
Full report
The demonstration was organized by civil society groups CTRL+Z, Artigo 19 and Sleeping Giants Brasil. Protesters carried signs reading "Meta, don't meddle," "In Brazil, Brazil decides" and "Meta blocks pro-Lula political content," demanding a public apology, a transparency panel, independent algorithm audits and human-led appeal channels. They planned to hand a formal notice to Meta's Brazil director.
The dispute stems from the Lula coalition's claim that Meta's platforms restricted his Instagram account and the reach of his posts. Internal Meta messages reported by Folha de S.Paulo acknowledged the restrictions and showed the platform recommending Bolsonaro's profile and WhatsApp channel to users. Meta has denied political bias, attributing the issues to global technical glitches.
Regulators moved in parallel: Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on Monday gave Meta 24 hours to demonstrate equal treatment of both campaigns, with daily fines of up to one million reais (about $185,000) for non-compliance; the national data protection authority (ANPD) separately notified Meta to explain its account suspensions, content removals and reach restrictions within five working days.
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