TSE complies with Flávio Bolsonaro's request and demands investigation into Meta regarding Lula's channel

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on Thursday ordered Meta, the company responsible for WhatsApp, to present a detailed report on the activities of the “Exército do Lula” channel, used to disseminate content favorable to the re-election campaign of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The decision was taken by the President of the Court, Minister Kassio Nunes Marques, following a request from the legal team of the candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL).

The company will have 24 hours to provide technical clarifications on how the channel works, including possible coordinated movements across profiles, outreach strategies and patterns of user interaction.

The initiative comes amidst the 2026 presidential dispute, which will have its second round held next Sunday (25).

Flávio’s campaign questions monitoring of platforms

The legal representatives of Flávio Bolsonaro argue that there are doubts about compliance with the security and transparency measures presented by Meta to Justiça Eleitoral.

According to the campaign, the company had previously reported that it had not identified irregularities related to the channel. However, the lawyers contested the answer, stating that the methods used in the verification and the time interval considered in the analysis were not clarified.

Before the questions, the minister determined the presentation of more comprehensive information, allowing Justiça Eleitoral to evaluate the procedures adopted by the platform.

Meta will have to detail channel activities

Among the information requested by TSE are data related to the identification of possible coordinated actions between accounts and channels, unusual behaviors of engagement, circulation of publications and possible electoral advertising activities.

The analysis should also address mechanisms that allow verifying the origin and dissemination of content, in addition to the measures adopted by the company to identify possible violations of electoral rules.

The determination does not represent a conclusion that there were irregularities, but establishes a new stage of counting to clarify the questions presented by the Flávio Bolsonaro campaign.

In addition to Meta, Google and platform X are expected to inform Justiça Eleitoral if they have found indications of coordinated mobilizations involving hashtags related to the presidential dispute.

Channel had already been the target of TSE decisions

The “Army of Lula”, administered by the federal deputy André Janones (Rede-MG), has already been at the center of a series of judicial decisions during the electoral campaign.

The channel was suspended due to the determination of Kassio Nunes Marques, due to the absence of formal communication of his address to Justiça Eleitoral. Subsequently, Lula’s campaign carried out the required registration, allowing the resumption of activities.

In a previous analysis, TSE technicians also examined messages and videos published on the channel and reported not having identified the reproduction of false content investigated in the period evaluated.

Process on registration is filed

Also on Thursday (22), the president of TSE ordered the archiving of the administrative procedure regarding the registration of the channel.

The decision came after the regularization of his registration by the petista campaign and the approval of a resolution that establishes the compulsory registration of digital channels linked to electoral campaigns.

The requirement now covers these communication spaces, following rules similar to those applied to official candidate sites and profiles on social networks.

Despite the closure of the procedure related to registration, the request for technical information to Meta remains a distinct measure, aimed at the supervision of digital activities during the electoral process.

See also: https://bntonline.com.br/lula-flavio-bolsonaro-acuerdo-apertura-sigilos-tse/