SÃO PAULO — A judge of Brazil’s top electoral court ruled Thursday that Meta must adopt measures to immediately secure equal treatment of the two presidential candidates ahead of an Oct. 25 runoff.

The ruling comes shortly after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is running against Flávio Bolsonaro, filed a complaint that accused the tech company that owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp of using biased algorithms and AI restrictions to favor opposition candidate Bolsonaro ahead of the election.

Lula’s campaign argues that accounts and advertisements associated with Flávio Bolsonaro have reportedly received artificially inflated visibility, with engagement metrics rivaling those of global celebrities. The two are in a close race for the presidency, after the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro garnered 47% of the vote against 45% for the incumbent in the first round on Oct. 4.

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[–] 4 points 5 hours ago* (2 children)

Bellizze said in his ruling that Meta must pay a fine of 500,000 reais ($98,000) per day if it fails to comply.

Ie, pocket lint for Meta - probably microscopic when viewed against the perks Bolsonaro most likely promised them.

Something tells me Fuckerberg will not be falling over himself to comply.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 hours ago (1 child)

    I don’t get why they couldn’t fine them like all of revenue from Brazil for past 5 years, for fucking with country’s elections.

    Seems to qualify as a major threat to country.

    Someone got bribed maybe.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 hours ago

    To be fair, the problem was "only" with Meta AI refusing to make images with Lula. That was all they gathered enough evidence on, it's hard to tell how else cuckberg's algorithm might have influenced people on instagram and whatsapp

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  • [–] 3 points 6 hours ago (1 child)

    I mean is it kinda too late?

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