Protest against Lula in front of Meta criticizes interference
Demonstration in front of Meta's headquarters in São Paulo gathered Lula supporters against alleged company interference in elections. The group tried to deliver a manifesto but was blocked by security. TSE gave 24 hours for the big tech company to prove equality among candidate campaigns.
Protesters in favor of the re-election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) met on Monday (19) in front of the headquarters of Meta, in São Paulo, to protest against the alleged interference of the company in the Brazilian elections. Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The act took place on the same day that the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) intensified the charging on the big tech.
Participants tried to hand over a manifesto to company representatives, but were prevented by security guards. During the protest, the group adopted the slogan “Meta, don’t get involved”. The mobilization was organized by civil society entities and social movements.
Demonstration demands neutrality of platforms
The protest reflects the dissatisfaction of part of the petist militancy with what it considers unequal treatment in social networks. The protesters accuse Meta of privileging content linked to the candidacy of Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) to the detriment of the Lula campaign. The company denies any interference and attributes the problems to one-off technical failures.
The unsuccessful attempt to deliver the manifesto symbolizes, for the organizers, the lack of dialogue of big tech with civil society. The slogan “Meta, no se meta” summarizes the central demand: that the company not interfere in the Brazilian electoral process. The source did not detail the exact number of participants or the total duration of the act.
TSE pushes for equal treatment
On Monday morning, the minister of TSE Marco Aurélio Bellizze gave 24 hours to the Meta to prove compliance with a determination that requires equal treatment between the presidential candidacies of Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro. The rapporteur warned that the daily fine can go from R$ 500,000 to R$ 1 million in case of non-compliance.
On Friday, the company admitted to the occurrence of one-off technical failures that temporarily affected publications of the petista campaign, but denied that it is interfering in the elections. Bellizze’s decision increases the pressure on the platform, which now needs to demonstrate objectively that it corrected the distortions pointed out by Lula’s campaign.
Lula's campaign triggers TSE again
Lula’s campaign reactivated the TSE on Monday night, pointing out that the generation of images through Meta AI would still be benefiting requests related to Flávio. The defense of the petista asks that the rapporteur forbid the company to generate political images via artificial intelligence.
The new request indicates that, even after the admitted failures, Lula’s campaign considers that the AI tool of the Goal continues to produce unequal results. Meta has not yet made a public statement about this new charge. The source did not detail which specific images would have been biased.
Election context and impact on networks
The clash between Lula’s campaign and Meta comes at a time of high electoral sensitivity, with social networks playing a central role in political communication. The decision of TSE may set precedents on the responsibility of platforms to ensure equal treatment between candidates.
For the demonstrators, the Meta’s actions go beyond technical flaws and constitute a threat to democracy. The company, in turn, maintains that it takes measures to avoid interference and that the faults have been corrected. The impasse remains unresolved, while the 24-hour deadline runs.
Next steps and expectations
The TSE should review the evidence presented by Meta and decide whether or not to apply the daily fine. Lula’s campaign awaits an answer on the request to ban the generation of political images by AI. The outcome may influence the conduct of digital platforms in the rest of the election campaign.
In the meantime, new acts like Monday’s could take place, increasing social pressure on big tech. The Boca no Trombone Portal will continue to track the unfolding of this dispute between campaigns, Justiça Eleitoral and digital platforms.
Read Also
Fábio Silva charges resurfacing of streets in Núcleo Pitangui, in Ponta Grossa
Lula will give permission to break secrets to TSE
Research shows decrease in Flavio's advantage over Lula, by Gleidson Carlos
Font
www.gazetadopovo.com
