O and O ignored the Electoral Court rule that prohibits the promotion of criticism against opponents on social media and paid at least R$277,000 to expand the reach of publications attacking their competitors. Posts reached more than 39.1 million of impressions, as the number of times certain content appears on the screen is called.
The PL even promoted more publications to attack the PT than to promote the pre-candidacy of (PL) for the Presidency. Of the 82 sponsored posts on Facebook and Instagram from January to June 24, 34 contain criticism of the PT or the party, which represents 41% of the total. The ads seek, for example, to link PT to .
The PT made 76 announcements against Bolsonaros. The criticisms represent almost 18% of the 429 publications promoted this year and address American themes, Donald Trump, against Brazil, articulated by former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro.
The law and electoral resolutions prohibit critical content from having its reach boosted during the campaign and pre-campaign. Pre-candidates can make posts opposing their opponents, but cannot create advertisements, that is, invest money to increase delivery to the public.
The PT has not promoted negative content since April, prioritizing the promotion of Lula. The PL ran propaganda unfavorable to its opponent until the 21st. At the moment, none of them are paying to expand the reach of this type of publication. The data comes from the Meta Ad Library (the company that owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp).
The costs of making critical publications reach a greater number of people have already led to legal actions on both sides, with decisions from the TSE (Superior Electoral Court).
Questioned by Sheetthe PT stated that it promoted 37 pieces of content on Facebook and Instagram “based on information, facts and concrete data, including news”. The number released by the party refers to the pieces produced. It is common for the same piece to be transformed into several advertisements.
“The Workers’ Party accepts the recent understandings of the TSE and, based on the injunctions granted, defines parameters for its posts in compliance with the decisions of the electoral court. The posts cited by the TSE have already expired and were taken offline spontaneously”, stated the acronym.
The PL was contacted by email and WhatsApp from Tuesday (23) until Thursday (25), but did not respond. Messages were sent to the advisors and the party’s national president, Valdemar Costa Neto.
Meta sent to Sheet institutional posts saying that it operates in accordance with the legislation.
In total, the PL’s posts with negative propaganda reached more than 19.7 million impressions from a payment of R$132 thousand, which means 35% of the party’s total spending on this mechanism. The value may be higher, as the Goal does not inform the exact expense.
Advertisements about the presidential pre-candidacy generated 9.4 million impressions. There were 15 paid posts to promote Flávio and 12 to defend him.
Among the critical posts, one of the most recent says that influencer and lawyer Deolane Bezerra, who is a defendant under , is a friend of Lula.
The video has a somber tone and shows images of a meeting between the two in 2022. “Do you still believe that this government will fight the factions?” he asks.
The boost in reach cost PL at least R$9,000 and led to around one million impressions.
There are also 11 other posts that try to link the Lula government to Banco Master. The PL spent R$21,600 to boost them at the end of May. One of them mentions the former leader of the government in the Senate Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), who was the target of a PF operation for
Two other posts try to link the president to the businessman known as Careca do INSS, who is involved in a fraud scheme. The PL invested at least R$35,000 in the posts.
The PT spent at least R$145,000 to make posts critical of Bolsonaros reach 19.4 million impressions. The acronym prioritized the attempt to link opponents to rising fuel prices, which motivated 27 of the 76 paid advertisements this year.
“Before the war, another bomb had hit Brazil. With the support of his son Flávio, Bolsonaro privatized refineries and BR Distribuidora, making it difficult to control fuel prices”, says one of the pieces.
Fifteen posts of this type were removed by Meta because they were considered illegal, but the company does not explain why.
Another focus of the party was the relationship between the Bolsonaros and Trump. The PT sponsored posts that call Flávio a “traitor to the country” and “ally” of the president who wants to “end Pix”. The caption paid R$35,600 on the theme and generated at least 4.7 million impressions.
There were also attempts to link opponents to the Master scandal. One of the posts revealed that Fabiano Zettel, brother-in-law of Daniel Vorcaro, .
“Sponsorship, if it is criticism, even more so if it is criticism that can be understood in the sense of ‘don’t vote’, is not something that has been tolerated, neither in the pre-campaign nor in the campaign”, says electoral lawyer Gabriela Rollemberg.
There is no official definition of when the pre-campaign begins, but, according to Rollemberg, the entire election year is usually considered part of the period.
“If there is a repeat offense, in addition to financial sanctions, it may incur, depending on the quantity and size, abuse”, says also electoral lawyer Ana Carolina Clève.
Both, however, are contrary to the norm. They consider that the promotion of criticism, as long as it is based on true information, should be allowed to protect freedom of expression.
At the beginning of this year, the Electoral Court discussed allowing criticism against the government during the electoral period. Under the argument that the PT asked the TSE to block the change, which was accepted.
