In São Paulo, Brazil, protesters rallied outside the corporate offices of Meta on Monday, accusing the social media giant of “electoral interference” ahead of Sunday’s runoff election between incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. The protest came as Brazil’s Electoral Court gave Meta 24 hours to prove that it guarantees equal treatment for the campaigns of the two candidates, as required by law. This follows widespread allegations that Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms are reducing the reach of Lula’s posts and boosting those of Bolsonaro and his supporters. Among those protesting Monday was Daniela Silva, a former Meta employee who once led efforts to shape Brazilian laws in Meta’s favor.

Daniela Silva: “I left Meta in early 2025. A very important event took place at the company at that time, because Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would roll back several of the company’s integrity policies. He also declared that he would align himself with the Donald Trump administration, which was about to take office, to ensure that countries like Brazil and other Latin American countries would stop regulating its technologies, moving in a direction that went against the company’s economic interests. And for me, this kind of intervention crossed a very important ethical line.”