Government demands explanations from Meta over accounts taken down during the election
Senacon notified the company after a complaint that Instagram and Facebook remove profiles and posts without prior notice or a right to defense.
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
The National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon), part of the Ministry of Justice, notified Meta to explain the suspension of accounts and posts on Instagram and Facebook during the election period. According to g1, the request responds to a complaint accusing the company of improperly restricting profiles, without prior notice, without indicating the rule violated and without room for defense.
The complaint was filed by CTRL+Z, a nonprofit co-founded by Daniela da Silva, former head of public policy at WhatsApp. The document describes a repeated pattern of service failure and cites unilateral removals, erratic application of election rules and approval of political ads containing false information.
One of the episodes listed is the takedown, on September 23, of the profile of the news outlet Revelando, two days after a video about ties between Banco Master and the Lagoinha Baptist Church. Hours later, Meta restored the account after an internal review. The complaint also cites a study by the organization Eko, which managed to run ads with false information, such as the voting date.
The notification was sent on October 23, before the runoff, with a two-day deadline. As of Thursday (29), Meta had not responded and told g1 it would not comment on the case.
Senacon wants to know how many accounts and posts have been restricted since August 16, when election campaigning began, as well as the volume of appeals and the percentage of decisions reversed.