Facebook failed to filter out advertisements containing election disinformation in Brazil, a new report from human rights group Global Witness has found, as the country prepares for a tightly contested October vote.
The international rights group said on Monday that it had submitted 10 ads in Brazilian Portuguese to Facebook that contained election disinformation, including false claims about where and when to vote, or sought to delegitimise the country’s electoral process.
“Alarmingly, all of the election disinformation examples were approved,” Global Witness said.
Misinformation related to Brazil’s October 2 vote has been a concern for months, with far-right President Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly saying without evidence that the country’s electronic voting system is vulnerable to fraud.
Critics and judicial experts have rejected that as baseless, accusing Bolsonaro – who faces a stiff challenge from former left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – of planning to use his fraud claims to contest the election results, similar to ex-United States President Donald Trump.
“Given the high stakes nature of the Brazilian election, Facebook is failing in its efforts to adequately protect Brazilians from a disinformation nightmare,” Global Witness said in its report.
In a statement shared by Global Witness, Facebook said it has “prepared extensively for the 2022 election in Brazil”.
“We’ve launched tools that promote reliable information and label election-related posts,...
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