The coalition of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), candidate for reelection, asked the president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), minister Kassio Nunes Marques, to order Meta to remove a network of 255 profiles identified as automated or inauthentic.
The coalition also asked for the restoration of the reach of campaign content that would have been harmed by the platform.
The campaign had already contacted the Electoral Court this Wednesday (14) questioning, among other points, the reach of publications by deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) and the functioning of the Meta AI tool.
Now, the coalition is asking the Presidency of the court for action directly. According to the campaign, Meta fails to comply with the compliance plan presented to the Electoral Court.
Among the measures requested, the coalition wants Meta to be notified so that, within six hours, the irregularities identified can be stopped and proof of compliance with the determinations.
It also calls for the removal of profiles considered inauthentic from the network, the recomposition of content reach and a daily fine of R$500,000 in case of non-compliance, initially limited to R$5 million.
In the case of loss of reach, the campaign requests the “recomposition of the reach of the contents of the official profiles of the Coalition and its candidate, through corrective delivery fully paid for by the platform, in a volume equivalent to twice the loss determined”.
According to the petition, the loss would be calculated by the difference between the distribution that the content would have had in the absence of the incidents mentioned and the prints actually delivered.
If the request for double recomposition is not accepted, the coalition requests, alternatively, simple recompensation, equivalent to the loss determined.
For content from third-party supporters of the candidate that would have been affected by reduction, blocking or unavailability not supported by electoral rules, the coalition also requests redistribution on the recommendation surfaces of Instagram and Facebook.
The discussion takes place at a time when Nunes Marques is also listening to campaigns about the actions of digital platforms.
This Wednesday, lawyers from the campaigns of Lula and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), opponents in the second round, met to discuss rules related to supporters' channels on WhatsApp. Nunes Marques participated in the final part of the meeting.
During the meeting, the president of the TSE also heard complaints from lawyers about Meta's performance and is expected to meet with representatives of the platform this morning. The meeting is scheduled for 9am.
According to interlocutors, among the demands are equal treatment between candidates in relation to algorithms and artificial intelligence tools and the fight against irregular content promotion.
One of the requests presented by Lula's coalition involves a network of 255 profiles on Instagram which, according to a report by the Instituto Democracia em Xeque cited by the campaign, would be managed with artificial intelligence.
According to the petition, the survey attributed 58.6 million views to the network in the month monitored and states that it was used to publish content against Lula, the Workers' Party (PT) and the first lady.
The coalition calls for the immediate removal or unavailability of accounts that it classifies as automated or inauthentic.
It also requests information about the technical means used by the platform to identify coordinated networks and the measures adopted.
Lula's campaign accused Meta of restricting the reach of publications linked to the president and his supporters, while content associated with the opposing candidacy would have expanded distribution.
The coalition also questioned the reach of Nikolas Ferreira's publications and asked for clarification on the platform's content recommendation criteria.
The petition presented to the Presidency of the TSE also points out that Lula's campaign advertising account was disabled.
According to the document, Meta previously recognized that two restrictions had been “erroneously treated as serious”.
Another point is how Meta AI works. According to the campaign, tests carried out on the tool indicated different treatment for requests related to the two candidacies.
The coalition asks that Meta apply the same electoral security and compliance criteria to all candidates.
The petition also cites surveys of political content produced with artificial intelligence during a period in which the circulation of this type of material was prohibited by electoral rules, as well as advertisements that, according to the coalition, were hired from abroad or by unauthorized people.
In addition to removing content and restoring reach, the campaign asks Meta to preserve records related to delivery, moderation and ads and present a daily report on the measures taken until October 25th.
