Lula's Coalition Calls for Federal Investigation into Alleged Illegal Meta Benefits for Flávio Bolsonaro's Campaign

The coalition "Brasil Pronto para Mais," led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has formally requested an investigation by the Federal Police (PF) and the Electoral Prosecutor's Office (PGE) into claims that Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign received unreported economic advantages from Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The coalition raised concerns about Meta's role in disproportionately amplifying Bolsonaro's campaign content. From September to October, Flávio Bolsonaro's short videos reportedly averaged 6.6 million views—significantly surpassing Lula's content despite the latter having a larger follower base. This excess exposure has been estimated to equate to around R$7.4 million in paid promotion value.

Meta has admitted to technical failures that affected Lula's accounts and the generation of political content but denied any electoral interference, attributing Flávio's higher content reach to a system loophole while stating these issues have been resolved. The coalition is seeking to preserve internal communications and data on Meta's recommendation algorithms and requests testimony from Flávio, his campaign treasurer Marcelo Lopes de Azevedo, and Meta representatives. This action follows an earlier appeal to the Superior Electoral Court, where a minister mandated that Meta must not favor nor restrict political content without justification.

In addition, the coalition has involved Leopoldo Maldonado Gutiérrez, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, highlighting the seriousness of the allegations. These developments come amid a politically sensitive climate regarding digital campaign finance and platform responsibility in Brazil's 2026 elections.