Brazil fines Meta for failing to comply with court orders during election

The Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) imposed a fine of 7.5 million reais (approximately $1.3 million) on Tuesday on Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, for partially failing to comply with court orders intended to ensure equal treatment for presidential candidates Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro during the October elections.

The decision, adopted unanimously, responds to a complaint filed by President Lula's coalition, which accused the American company of restricting the reach of its posts and favoring the conservative candidate during the Oct. 25 runoff election.

However, the court found no evidence that Meta had acted deliberately to influence the outcome of the election, according to Reuters.

The presiding judge, Marco Aurélio Bellizze, explained that the sanction is primarily due to the company's failure to meet the deadlines set by the court and its submission of incomplete, generic or foreign-language information, which hindered the judicial oversight of the platforms.

According to the official statement from the TSE, the company also failed to fully comply with several of the measures required before the end of the runoff election.

Meta rejects allegations of electoral interference

The company denied having favored any of the candidates and described the allegations of election manipulation as false and unfounded. Its defense argued that the platforms applied the same rules to both campaigns and attributed the reported irregularities to technical issues.

Lula's representatives insisted that there were unjustified restrictions on content favorable to the president, as well as irregularities related to political advertising and artificial intelligence tools.

The ruling comes after Lula's reelection; he defeated Flávio Bolsonaro in October and has promised to strengthen regulation of digital platforms.

Despite the fine, the investigation into possible electoral interference by Meta remains open, and so far, no intentional action by the company to benefit Bolsonaro has been proven.