Meta’s corporate offices in São Paulo are the site of ongoing protests against election interference in the crucial national run-off elections in Brazil. Hundreds of protestors rallied at the company’s offices on Tuesday, carrying effigies mocking Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg as the devil incarnate, Venezuelan publication TeleSur reported.
The demonstration coincided with an order by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court demanding that Meta release proof it was providing equitable treatment to both of Brazil’s presidential candidates.
Meta’s moderation methods came under international scrutiny earlier this month, after the company restricted over 1,000 social media accounts belonging to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who’s viewed as something like the Bernie Sanders of the Brazilian political scene. At the same time, Lula’s allies have accused Meta of artificially boosting content from the far-right contender for the office, Flávio Bolsonaro.
Outraged at the perceived election meddling, protestors descended on Meta’s offices with Zuckerberg masks, signs, and massive paper heads. One protest sign showed a scowling Zuckerberg with dollar signs over his eyes and “bilionario safado” scrawled in blood-red paint, translating roughly to “billionaire scoundrel.”
