Brazil's Lula seeks explanation after Meta blocks Facebook ad account

Meta temporarily disabled the account used by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s campaign to purchase advertisements on Facebook, just days before the general election in the South American country.

The campaign management filed an appeal against Meta, arguing that the block was unjustified. Although Lula’s Facebook advertising account was restored the same day, the presidential candidate’s campaign is still awaiting an explanation from the tech giant about the measure, as highlighted in Brazilian media.

The incident reinforced a narrative among Lula’s allies that companies based in the United States  act in favour of the PT party's political adversaries, according to Agencia Brasilia's article.

Shortly after Trump returned to the White House for a second term in January 2025, Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg took to social media to announce the company’s alignment with the new government in Washington.

"We will work with President Trump to pressure governments around the world that are targeting American companies," Mark Zuckerberg said at the time.

The regulation of big tech companies in Brazil is championed by the current Brazilian government under Lula, creating tensions with technology giants and with the administration of Donald Trump, which has criticised countries and governments seeking to regulate digital platforms and introduce rules aimed at preventing crime in the digital environment.

The party is considering taking the case to the Superior Electoral Court if it finds Meta’s explanations insufficient, according to a public statement by Éden Valadares, the PT’s Communications Secretary.

The controversy comes after an independent investigation by Amnesty International into Facebook’s electoral advertising controls ahead of the Brazilian elections.

The organisation submitted 15 fictional advertisements in Portuguese – 14 containing disinformation and one neutral – to test how Meta’s review mechanisms operated.

According to Amnesty, eight of the ads were approved, while another seven were subjected to identity verification, despite the test material containing false electoral claims. Investigators canceled the advertisements before they were published.

Amnesty said it contacted Meta on July 21 to request an explanation of its moderation systems. The organisation published its findings on August 25.

By Nazrin Sadigova