Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's campaign on Wednesday filed a petition with the country's top electoral court seeking the disqualification of his right-wing rival Flavio Bolsonaro from the presidential race, a day after Bolsonaro's team made a similar request against Lula, AFP reported.

Source: AFP, 22 Oct 2026

Lula's team cited alleged "abuse of economic power and improper use of social networks", accusing tech giant Meta of election interference through alleged algorithmic manipulation aimed at harming the incumbent's chances, according to the campaign's filing as reported by AFP.

Meta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, denies the allegations, but previously said some of Lula's campaign ads had been mistakenly deactivated due to technical errors, AFP reported. The court on Monday gave Meta 24 hours to prove it was complying with an order to treat both campaigns equally, threatening a daily fine of around $200,000 — yaani 2 lakh dollars a day — if it did not.

A tit-for-tat court fight days before the runoff

Bolsonaro's team requested Lula's disqualification on Tuesday, accusing the leftist president of "abuse of power" in the mass dissemination of government postings on WhatsApp during the campaign, according to that court filing reported by AFP.

Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro, received 47 percent of the vote to Lula's 45 percent in the first round earlier this month, and polls show a technical tie ahead of Sunday's runoff. Lula is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term in office.