BRASÍLIA — Brazil’s top electoral court has slapped tech giant Meta with a 7.5 million reais ($1.34 million) fine for flouting binding judicial orders during the tense presidential runoff, while finding no preliminary proof that the Silicon Valley titan deliberately skewed the election.
Yet the reprieve on charges of systemic sabotage brought little relief to the Menlo Park conglomerate. The judges voted unanimously.
The bench determined that while the evidence did not demonstrate an intentional campaign to distort the ballot box, Meta systematically ignored, delayed, or only partially executed mandatory court rulings designed to police election conduct across its Facebook platform. Technical glitches admitted by the company did not excuse foot-dragging under election law.
Justice Marco Aurelio Bellizze, drafting the formal ruling, drew a sharp legal distinction between operational contempt and premeditated political sabotage. Meta had failed judicial instructions, but the legal threshold for proving deliberate electoral manipulation remained unmet on the current record.
The records contain technical failures acknowledged by Facebook itself, but there are no elements allowing us to conclude, on a preliminary basis, that there was deliberate action to unbalance the election. That conclusion would require robust evidence, to be produced through the appropriate legal proceedings.
Justice Marco Aurelio Bellizze, Brazil Top Electoral Court
Judge Bellizze stressed that the punitive assessment directly targeted the company's broader pattern of non-responsiveness. Court filings revealed persistent administrative holdups, incomplete disclosures, and structural obstacles that prevented electoral authorities from verifying the data Meta submitted.
The legal challenge originated from the campaign coalition of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who secured re-election in the runoff. Lula’s legal team filed an urgent complaint ahead of the vote, asserting that Meta throttled the reach of pro-Lula communications while enabling networks of inauthentic profiles. The petition further accused the platform of failing to flag artificial intelligence-generated campaign material and claimed internal algorithm disparities gave an illicit advantage to right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro, who captured more ballots than Lula in the first round before tumbling in the runoff, has since departed Brazil for the United States alongside his family.
Electoral magistrates calculated the penalty around nine crucial campaign dates where Meta either breached directives, delivered piecemeal compliance, or blew past statutory deadlines.
| Penalty Period | Daily Rate | Total Fine Assessment | Non-Compliance Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 17 – October 19 | 500,000 reais per day | 1.5 million reais | Partial compliance, missing disclosures |
| October 20 – October 25 | 1,000,000 reais per day | 6.0 million reais | Consecutive missed deadlines on judicial mandates |
| Cumulative Total | — | 7.5 million reais ($1.34M) | Confirmed by unanimous court ruling |
Meta vigorously rejected claims of bias, arguing it enacted stringent internal protocols to ensure parity across both political tickets.
"Meta complies with Brazilian electoral law and applies the same rules to all candidates and parties," the Mark Zuckerberg-led company stated. "We will continue to present the facts and defend ourselves against false allegations in the ongoing legal proceedings."
Further legal proceedings in the electoral court will now determine whether ongoing inquiries into platform algorithms and unverified political accounts warrant additional enforcement against Meta’s Brazilian operations.