Brasilia: Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the Federal Police to investigate possible foreign interference in the country’s electoral process.
The decision, issued by Justice Flavio Dino, points to signs that algorithms on digital platforms were manipulated to benefit conservative candidate Flavio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party, and handicap President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party, who was re-elected in a runoff vote on Sunday.
Dino said the evidence indicates an “intensification in indications of foreign interference in the electoral process.”
The allegations involve Meta — the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram — and X, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, following reports that their algorithms were deliberately skewed.
Dino also noted Bolsonaro’s campaign may have received foreign funding, which is prohibited under Brazilian electoral law, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The suspicion of foreign funding centres on dealings between the Rockbridge Network, a US-based conservative group with ties to the Republican Party, and Brazilian businessmen Tallis Gomes and Pedro Sang, the latter reportedly serving as the group’s CEO in Brazil.
The probe will also examine who was responsible for purchasing political advertising and placing election-related bets through foreign platforms, such as Polymarket, as well as potential ties between political financing and economic interests in Brazil’s critical minerals and rare earths.
The court order follows complaints filed by the ruling Workers’ Party and the right-wing Mission Party, whose presidential candidate Renan Santos was eliminated in the first round.
Incumbent Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva staged a comeback victory in presidential runoff, defeating Liberal Party candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, who led in the first round, to secure a fourth term in office.
Born in October 1945 in northeastern Brazil, Lula was the seventh child in a poor rural family.
In the early 1970s, Lula gradually emerged as a trade union leader, becoming known as a voice for the poor and a leading figure in the struggle against the military regime. In 1980, he co-founded the Workers’ Party (PT).
After winning a landslide victory in the 2002 presidential election, Lula became Brazil’s first president from a working-class background.
In 2006, Lula was re-elected. His flagship Bolsa Familia (Family Allowance) cash transfer program helped lift millions of Brazilians out of poverty.
In 2014, Brazilian judicial authorities launched a sweeping anti-corruption investigation known as Operation Car Wash. Lula was subsequently investigated, convicted and imprisoned. In March 2021, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court annulled all the convictions on corruption charges against Lula.
He returned to the presidential race in 2022 and defeated then-President Jair Bolsonaro, becoming the first Brazilian president to be elected to three terms by popular vote.
(IANS)
