SEATTLE, Wash. — Washington Congressional Representative Pramila Jayapal and Senator Bernie Sanders issued a statement Thursday calling for a response from Meta after reports of restricting content from Brazil’s incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvacandidate as the country’s elections approach.
According to the Seattle Times, Meta has denied these allegations. KIRO 7 has reached out to Meta and has not yet received a response.
According to the representatives, on September 23, Meta unilaterally disabled the Lula campaign’s Facebook advertising account without explanation. From October 9 to October 10, Meta prevented the Lula campaign from paying to boost ads published on its Instagram account for nearly 24 hours.
On October 20, Meta stated that it had “completed the implementation of measures” to comply with orders from Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court after being fined twice for noncompliance with Brazilian election law.
The statement from the representatives did not specify where the reports of content suppression came from but referred to them as “credible”.
Brazilians will head to the polls on October 25 for a runoff election.