Facebook’s election content moderation failures in Brazil are a warning for US midterms
Let’s play a game called “spot the election disinformation.” We’ll start with: “The electronic system is untrustworthy. We need printed paper versions of everyone’s votes so they count! We can’t accept the vote until they change the system.”
Sound off? If you answered yes, congratulations. You’re a step ahead of Facebook’s content moderation system. New research from Global Witness has found that the platform appears woefully unprepared to rein in election-related disinformation ahead of Brazil’s contentious upcoming presidential race. Fears are spreading that incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro will refuse to concede the election if he loses, setting the stage for a possible military confrontation.
The brash, far-right Bolsonaro has consistently been trailing leftist rival and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the polls. Bolsonaro has called Lula a “bandit” who could only win the presidency through electoral fraud, and has dramatically forecast just three outcomes for his political future: prison, death, or electoral victory. Such comments have left Brazilians understandably on edge about the peaceful transfer of power if Bolsonaro loses: concerns of a coup and authoritarian backsliding are widespread, reviving memories of the country’s brutal and violent military dictatorship from 1964-1985.
This would all be volatile enough without social media. But nothing quite revs up a demagogue on life support like the possibility of spreading mass lies online. As we have previously reported, Bolsonaro has built a social media juggernaut numbering tens of millions of supporters. Election-related disinformation played a significant role in the lead-up to his victory in 2018. With elections scheduled for October 2, Facebook—the country’s most popular social media platform—has inevitably emerged as a key battleground in the fight over Brazil’s political future.