According to messages reported by a Brazilian daily, employees at Meta flagged that accounts associated with former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were restricted during Brazil’s election, while the company’s systems or staff recommended the profile and WhatsApp channel of Jair Bolsonaro.
The published messages, which the paper said came from inside Meta, suggest internal actions and recommendations that appear to have favoured one candidate’s visibility over another’s. WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, has been a significant communications channel in Brazil, making any recommendation of a candidate’s channel potentially notable for political outreach.
The report did not specify the scope of the restrictions on Lula-linked accounts, nor did it detail whether the recommendations for Bolsonaro were the result of written policy, automated systems, or ad-hoc decisions by staff. It also did not identify the specific employees who sent the messages or provide a timeline for when the actions took place.
Observers say the episode fits into a broader global debate over how large social media platforms moderate political content and the transparency of algorithmic recommendations. Allegations that company employees or systems treated candidates differently can intensify scrutiny from regulators, political actors and the public.
The disclosures are likely to revive discussions in Brazil about platform neutrality, oversight and the need for clearer rules around political content and recommendations during election periods. Further reporting will be needed to verify the messages and to establish how Meta’s internal processes influenced what users saw during the campaign.