The advancement and change in political stance of big tech will make disinformation in 2026 an even more difficult problem to monitor and combat than in previous elections. This finding comes from organizations that are part of the Permanent Program to Combat Disinformation, created in 2021 by the (Superior Electoral Court).
Social media platforms have ended programs that guaranteed more transparency about the circulation of content, changed their policies —in line with ideals defended by Donald Trump’s government— and have mobilized to block regulations that establish obligations, experts warn.
These changes, say TSE partners, will have a direct impact on monitoring disinformation on networks. When contacted, the TSE did not respond.
The companies , and X (former) were contacted, but did not respond.
In January 2025, the CEO of Meta, stated that he would approach the United States government to resist attempts to regulate networks and what he called censorship. He also said that there would be “secret courts” in “Latin American countries” that would be ordering “companies to remove content silently.”
In the 2024 elections, when networks were forced to maintain a repository of political ads that showed, for example, amounts invested and number of people affected, Google and X would ban it, arguing that they would not be able to comply with the standard. THE Sheet revealed, however, that the e continued to broadcast the content without the transparency ordered.
For researcher Débora Salles, general research coordinator at Netlab, the Social Network Studies Laboratory at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), the closure of network transparency tools makes monitoring difficult.
One of the tools removed by Meta in 2024 is CrowdTangle, which allowed the analysis of content shared on the network. It was replaced by the Meta Content Library, a “much worse” alternative for hindering access to independent researchers and journalists and restricting the extraction and export of data, according to the researcher.
OX also ended free access to its API, a tool that allows third parties to connect to the platform and was widely used in studies on disinformation. The user can pay according to the data they access, but, according to X, the estimated monthly cost is US$215, that is, more than R$1,100.
“It is increasingly difficult to collect data on publications and comments from platforms, even if they are public”, says Heloisa Massaro, director of InternetLab.
Luis Fakhouri, co-founder of Palver, adds that, if the company’s guidelines “are not aligned with some type of combat against disinformation, it becomes very difficult to create external mechanisms”.
“We are very disarmed”, concludes Professor Marco Ruediger, director of the School of Communication, Media and Information at FGV (Fundação Getúlio Vargas). He argues that the “platform policy change” will make combating disinformation in the 2026 election much more difficult than in other years.
Experts also highlight the rise of artificial intelligence as an additional challenge for the 2026 elections. Massaro points out that there is no transparency about what criteria are used by generative models, such as ChatGPT, to name candidates when questioned by voters.
Salles adds that the production of professional-looking media, made at low cost by AI tools, can allow new actors to act to “influence the debate” with false content.
The TSE determines that every post made with AI be identified, but the NetLab coordinator highlights that there is little oversight on the topic.
Civil framework enables accountability
Although the decision of the (Supreme Federal Court) in the judgment of article 19 of the Marco Civil da Internet has expanded the possibility of holding networks accountable, the Supreme Court established a reservation regarding the treatment of electoral content, which the Electoral Court.
Even so, Massaro points out that the Marco Civil can impact elections in cases of “discussions that are not explicitly electoral and that will not necessarily fall within the scope of the Electoral Court, but that can influence the ecosystem of public debate”.
Ruediger highlights that the difficulty of accountability continues, as in a scenario of lack of transparency there is difficulty in “clearly characterizing that something is happening with acquiescence or omission [das redes]”.
Representatives of the organizations consulted by the Sheet They still don’t know if they will be invited to participate in elections this year. So far, with the exception of Palver, which sends weekly reports to the TSE about challenges to the electoral system, the other entities have said they are not in contact with the court.
During the election, the TSE will be chaired by minister Kássio Nunes Marques, who was appointed by Jair Bolsonaro to the Supreme Court in 2020. He will be responsible for defining the focus of justice during the election.
On January 19th, the court that will guide the elections. The current draft of electoral advertising defines that “deepfakes” and content “fabricated or manipulated” to disseminate lies are prohibited. The resolutions are still in the drafting process and will then be voted on by ministers.
