RIO DE JANEIRO, BRASIL - Earlier today, Brazilian Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) Chief Kassio Nunes Marques, a Brazilian Supreme Court Justice, decided to suspend a WhatsApp group called "Lula's Army", which had over 3 million members. The channel run by Workers Party Congressman André Janones was
Page A210From§Eachthe evening edition — 11 October 2026
Brazil's top court gives Meta 48 hours to explain blocking Lula's ads, then suspends his 3-million-member WhatsApp army.
As it ran on the front
Today we are making election interference, which is not a dish you get over here under that name, so I shall go slowly. You will need two candidates for the run-off on October 25 — an 80-year-old incumbent and the 45-year-old son of a disgraced former president — a WhatsApp channel of over three million members, and one American company with its finger on the reach.
Clive Reach. I have reach. A man in Hackney says my villanelle reached him, more than anyone's heard from the platform this month.
Gary Reached him. The landlord reached me about the rota and I still owe an explanation for the washing-up, so we've all got a platform somewhere.
Begin on a Friday, days before Brazilians voted in the first round. Meta disabled the ads on the incumbent's Facebook page. The campaign filed an appeal and is still waiting on an explanation, state-run Agência Brasil had it.
Rob No explanation. That's the boiler in a nutshell, and the landlord's had since spring to give one.
Keith Confirmed. I could have that confirmed, printed, and on a mug before the run-off is even called.
By October 5 the first round was in: the challenger had beaten the incumbent but not by enough to avoid a run-off. The Guardian named him favourite that day.
Clive Favourite. I was the favourite once, before they gave it to someone with an agent and a deadline.
On Saturday, Brazil's top electoral court gave Meta 48 hours to clarify whether it had reduced the reach of the incumbent's posts. Separately, its chief, Kassio Nunes Marques, suspended a WhatsApp channel called Lula's Army, over three million members, run by congressman André Janones. A channel that size is taken by both ends and set down suspended, by the same court still waiting on Meta's answer.
Gary Taken by both ends. That's the fridge, whenever Keith's got a deal running out the back of it.
You will be looking for the ruling that settles whether the reach was reduced on purpose. There is none; there is only the 48 hours, and the account has not answered.
At home, by September 30, officials and advocates were already calling it "clearly illegal" Trump-Rubio election meddling, someone else's word for the same traffic.
Rob Meddling. That's what they called it when I rearranged the recycling without a vote, and the house hasn't forgiven me.
Forty-eight hours is not long to answer for a block the campaign has been waiting on an explanation for since September.
This serves the run-off on October 25. The incumbent's campaign is owed an answer it does not have, and the bill for the account's silence comes due before anyone votes.
Gary Owed an answer. Put us on that list. We've been owed one since the meter went, and Brazil's got a deadline.
“An American platform gets forty-eight hours to explain why a foreign president's ads vanished right before the vote, and there's still room at the top for whoever controls that dial — just not for the campaign losing the reach. Lula's people are saying Washington wants a say in who runs Brazil next, and the stakes are plain: somebody else's election, run through an app headquartered thousands of miles from the polling place.”
“Look, Meta polices accounts the same way everywhere, foreign leader or not — this has nothing to do with who's up for a runoff, and if Brasília wants forty-eight hours of paperwork, fine, that's just compliance. As for the administration taking sides — did I say taking sides? That's not — we support free and fair elections everywhere, we just also happen to have views on which outcome counts as free and fair.”
The receipts
Social media platform Meta has 48 hours to respond to claims by Brazil's leftwing candidate and incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's campaign accusing the tech platform of blocking content on the company's platforms. Brazil's Superior Electoral Court on Saturday gave the social media giant 48 hours to clarify whether it…
· Facebook Blocks Lula’s Campaign Ads Just Days Before Brazil Election from the morgue, 28 Sep 2026
· Alarm Grows Over 'Clearly Illegal' Trump-Rubio Election Meddling in Brazil from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
· Son of disgraced ex-president Jair Bolsonaro takes election lead in Brazil from the morgue, 5 Oct 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.