Brazil: Lula and Bolsonaro want to exclude each other

In the latest scandal before the run-off election for the presidency in Brazil, both candidates are going to court to have the other excluded. Both incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his challenger Flávio Bolsonaro took appropriate steps, according to court documents and statements from campaign staff.

Lula's campaign team will apply to the Supreme Electoral Court to have Bolsonaro's candidacy canceled because of alleged influence in his favor by the US technology group Meta, the AFP news agency reported, citing those close to the president. The application accuses the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp of “algorithmic manipulation” aimed at reducing Lula’s chances of re-election.

Lula's application was originally scheduled to be submitted to Brazil's Supreme Electoral Court on Tuesday. But Lula's campaign coordinator Camilo Santana later told reporters that the move would take place on Wednesday.

Bolsonaro accuses Lula of “abuse of power”.

In return, Bolsonaro also submitted a request to cancel Lula's candidacy. He accuses the incumbent of "abuse of power" because he is said to have used government accounts on WhatsApp for illegal election advertising and the mass dissemination of government successes during the election campaign.

The runoff election between the two politicians will take place on October 25th. Flávio Bolsonaro, eldest son of Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for an attempted coup against Lula, performed better than expected in the first round of elections on October 4th. With around 47 percent of the votes, he was just ahead of Lula, who got around 45 percent of the votes.

The tone before the runoff election is becoming increasingly tense: on Sunday, both candidates had a partly chaotic TV debate. In the duel, the politicians attacked each other with accusations and insults and accused each other of being corrupt.

Lula's campaign team had already filed a complaint against Meta with the electoral court last week because of an alleged blocking of its content in the company's online services. The court ordered Meta to treat both candidates equally and threatened a daily fine of $200,000 if it violated it.

Meta rejected the allegations and spoke of technical problems. On Tuesday, the US company emphasized that it had implemented the measures required by the electoral court.