Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign asked Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on Oct. 20 to annul President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's candidacy over government WhatsApp messages ahead of the Oct. 25 runoff.
Estadão Conteúdo reported that the petition accuses the government of using data it holds to send voters messages about public programs. Bolsonaro's lawyers allege that the messages favored Lula's re-election and gave him an advantage through government resources unavailable to his opponent. The petition seeks a pause in the messages and asks the court to change the GovBR WhatsApp account's image to a neutral government identifier, according to the outlet.
Lula's campaign, in turn, has said it plans to seek Bolsonaro's disqualification over alleged favoritism by Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Campaign coordinator Sen. Camilo Santana said the request would be filed Oct. 21 after being delayed from Oct. 20, AFP reported. The request has not been confirmed as filed.
The TSE said it had asked Meta to explain how political posts and election ads would receive equal treatment. TSE Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze met company representatives and both campaigns on Oct. 20 after Meta provided information on its compliance. That meeting was part of the Meta compliance proceeding, not a ruling on either candidacy challenge.
Meta said it had put the court's election ad measures in place, while unpaid posts remain outside those restrictions. It denied political interference and attributed the problems cited by Lula's campaign to technical faults. Meta also said the ad limits cover some advertising by government bodies, nonprofits and news outlets, and warned that permitted ads might be blocked in error.
With 99.99% of voting machines counted after the Oct. 4 first round, the TSE put Bolsonaro at 47.03% of valid votes and Lula at 45.16%. Lula is seeking a fourth, nonconsecutive term; Bolsonaro, a senator and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, is making his first presidential run. The two face voters in the Oct. 25 runoff.
