technology ·
Brazil's electoral court fines Meta for defying court orders
11 (UPI) -- Brazil's Superior Electoral Court fined Meta $1.3 million Tuesday for failing to comply with court orders aimed at ensuring equal treatment of the presidential campaigns of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro.
In a unanimous ruling, the court found that the U.S. company provided incomplete information, missed deadlines and failed to be transparent about how its platforms operated during the Oct. Still, the judges said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Meta deliberately acted to favor either candidate.
Meta has denied allegations of political favoritism. The penalty followed complaints filed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's coalition, which accused the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp of limiting the reach of its posts and favoring his right-wing rival, Sen.
The complaint alleged irregularities in the distribution of posts, election advertisements funded from abroad, allegedly fake accounts and failures to identify content generated by artificial intelligence. Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze, who oversaw the case, said Meta submitted documents that outlined steps taken to address the reported problems, but that it failed to comply fully with several court orders.
