Lula Says Big Tech Tried to Sway Vote

Brazil’s re-elected president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said in a national address on 8 November that big tech gave millions of views to false content, but he named no company and offered no evidence.

Why Lula Says Big Tech Tried to Sway Brazil’s Election

Lula said in a national address on 8 November 2026 that big tech platforms gave millions of views to false content. He named no company and, in the passages quoted, offered no evidence.

Lula, already president and of the left-wing Workers’ Party (PT), won a fourth term in the 25 October runoff against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the conservative Liberal Party (PL).” The so-called big techs tried to interfere in the Brazilian electoral process,” he said, adding that “the truth beat the lie”.

Some Brazilian reports read another passage as an unnamed jab at Bolsonaro, who travelled to the United States after the vote. In October his campaign asked the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which runs elections and judges election disputes, to strip Bolsonaro of his candidacy, alleging that Meta’s systems favoured his content.

Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, called the claims “false and unfounded” and cited “technical incidents” affecting campaigns across the political spectrum.

What Brazil’s US$1.3 Trillion Climate Finance Report Says

Brazil’s COP30 Presidency, the team that chaired the 2025 United Nations climate summit in Belém, published a report on 8 November 2026 from Antalya, Türkiye, on the eve of the COP31 UN climate summit, mapping a path to at least US$1.3 trillion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2035. It puts the business-as-usual level at about US$458–461 billion a year by 2035, which leaves a gap of roughly US$840 billion by our arithmetic.

With the report’s measures, flows could reach between US$1.27 trillion and US$1.41 trillion a year. The report says the goal is “within reach if governments, financial institutions and investors take the necessary measures”.

Official aid is moving the other way, with the OECD, a club of wealthy economies, putting preliminary 2025 official development assistance, or donor aid, at US$174 billion, down 23% in real terms from 2024.

Why Brazil’s Central Bank Held Interest Rates at 13.75%

Brazil’s central bank held its benchmark Selic interest rate at 13.75% a year on Wednesday 4 November 2026. The decision came from Copom, the bank’s monetary policy committee.

Lula raised the subject in his 8 November address, saying that the trajectory of public debt and high interest rates worry him. He reaffirmed a commitment to fiscal responsibility and said the effort would preserve Brazil’s fiscal rules.

Lula also listed commitments that add to pressure on public finances, including a tax exemption on the basic food basket from 2027. He said he had already sent Congress a proposal for free public transport on weekends.

High rates and a heavy debt load are the backdrop to his next term, in our reading. Whether the Selic falls is a decision for Copom, not for the president.

What Prediction Markets Say

On Polymarket, a prediction market where users trade real money on outcomes, the ’Bank of Brazil decision in December’ market (US$68,657 traded across the event) priced no change in the Selic at 89.0% at 1:14 a.m. ET on 10 November. A quarter-point cut was priced at 7.0%, a cut of half a point or more at 1.6%, a quarter-point rise at 1.1% and a larger rise at 0.7%.

For January 2027 the ’no change’ price is 64.5% (US$13,415 traded), so traders see more room for movement later. These prices are bets, not polls or official forecasts.

Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.

What Links These Stories

The common thread is trust. Lula challenged trust in US platforms in the same 8 November speech in which he said high interest rates and the debt trajectory worry him.

In our reading, Lula gains a political story that frames his win as a victory over disinformation, while Meta and other US platforms face scrutiny without any court finding against them. The climate report calls on governments, banks and investors to act, and a Selic of 13.75% with doubts about fiscal targets bears on how much money Brazil can expect to attract.

What It Means for US Readers

Meta, Alphabet and X are American companies, so any Brazilian platform rule or electoral-court sanction would touch US firms and US-Brazil relations. The rapporteur of Brazil’s big tech competition bill, the lawmaker steering it through the lower house, has said he wants a vote this year, and we found no floor date.

In our reading, the part of the climate report that touches US investors and banks is its call on governments, financial institutions and investors to put far more money into climate projects in developing countries.

What to Watch Next

COP31, the UN climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye, runs to 20 November, and the second Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement, a review of climate progress, is due to launch there. Watch for a TSE ruling on the October request, a reply from Meta and a floor date for the big tech bill before year-end.

The central bank’s Copom minutes, its written account of the rate decision, are due on 10 November.

What Is Not Known

We do not know which platforms Lula meant, what evidence he relies on or whether the TSE will rule on the October request. As of 9 November, Meta and the other companies had not responded to the address in the reports we found.

The climate report’s measures are only proposed, and no government is bound by it. The central bank’s minutes, due on 10 November, may explain its 4 November rate decision.

Sources

The Rio Times: Lula Says Big Tech Tried to Sway Brazil Vote · The Rio Times: Brazil COP30 Presidency report on US$1.3 trillion climate finance · The Rio Times: Brazil Rates Seen Stuck at 13.75% in 2026

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error

Brazil runoff, Sunday, October 25: When is the Brazil runoff election. Latest: Brazil runoff polls, Flávio 51%, Lula 49%.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Lula name the big tech companies he accused?

No. In the passages confirmed he named no company and gave no evidence. His campaign named Meta in its October court request, and Meta calls the claims false and unfounded.

How much climate finance does Brazil’s report target?

At least US$1.3 trillion a year by 2035 for developing countries. Business as usual reaches about US$458–461 billion, and the report says measures could lift flows to between US$1.27 trillion and US$1.41 trillion.

Where is Brazil’s Selic rate?

Copom held the Selic, Brazil’s benchmark interest rate, at 13.75% a year on 4 November 2026. Lula said on 8 November that high interest rates and the debt trajectory worry him.