Brazil’s PL Asks Electoral Court to Probe Alleged Anti-Flávio Bolsonaro Ad Network

Brazil’s Liberal Party, known as PL, has filed a complaint with the Superior Electoral Court, the country’s top election authority, over what it describes as a coordinated digital network using “ghost” pages to attack its members, especially Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.

Flávio, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, is described by O Globo as the PL’s pre-candidate for Brazil’s presidency. According to single-source reporting by columnist Lauro Jardim, the party alleges that artificial and temporary Facebook and Instagram pages were used to boost negative content against him and other party figures.

The PL’s filing is based on monitoring of Meta’s ad library, according to O Globo. The party says it identified 51 pages with suspicious characteristics, including small follower bases and advertising spending that it argues was inconsistent with their organic reach. The report cited by the party counted 4,607 boosted posts and about 250 million views between March and the end of June.

The party says the ads involved spending of nearly R$3 million, plus US$20,000 and 42,000 Colombian pesos. It estimates that the boosted posts reached between 77 million and 137 million Brazilians on Facebook and Instagram.

The PL is asking the electoral court to order the removal of ads it considers irregular and to require Meta to provide IP addresses and other data that could identify those behind the pages. The party also argues that the network may be broader than the pages already mapped.

The complaint places online political advertising back at the center of Brazil’s electoral debate. The TSE has played an unusually prominent role in regulating campaign conduct and digital disinformation in recent election cycles, especially after disputes surrounding Jair Bolsonaro’s 2022 re-election campaign. The new filing, however, remains an allegation by the PL unless and until the court or Meta confirms the existence, authorship, or illegality of the alleged network.

O Globo’s report did not include a response from Meta or from the alleged operators of the pages.