Lula coalition presses TSE over alleged Instagram boost for Flávio Bolsonaro

Lula coalition presses TSE over alleged Instagram boost for Flávio Bolsonaro
Lula’s coalition has asked Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, or TSE, to investigate what it describes as a coordinated Instagram network that promoted Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaign, sold campaign-branded products and may have artificially expanded electoral advertising.

According to one account of the filing, the coalition is seeking cancellation of the Bolsonaro ticket, suspension of sales links and possible ineligibility for people investigated. It cites a Laboratório Formiga mapping of 492 profiles and 1,826 collaborative posts, with a combined follower count above 147 million. The petition alleges that accounts favourable to Bolsonaro directed users to the same online shop, Bella Chic Store, and that administrators could have been paid through sales of products marked with the number 22. The coalition argues this could amount to irregular monetisation of electoral propaganda and a parallel campaign-financing structure.

A second report frames the case more cautiously. It says the PT was preparing to submit evidence concerning 324 accounts, identifying 492 collaborative posts between August 15 and September 7; 207 included profiles connected to candidates or campaigns. It notes that the “collab” feature allows one post to appear on several participating accounts at once, potentially reaching people who do not follow a candidate directly.

But that report also underlines the central legal distinction: collaborative posts “in themselves do not constitute an irregularity.” Electoral law permits spontaneous voter expression and organic political mobilisation, while restricting paid promotion and the hiring of third parties for electoral dissemination. It also cautions that the reported 130.9 million followers are not a measure of unique people or actual reach, since users may follow multiple accounts.

The competing accounts therefore agree that the network warrants scrutiny, but differ in emphasis. The coalition presents the activity as evidence of coordinated, revenue-linked campaigning; the more cautious account says the TSE must decide whether it crossed the line from permitted organic sharing into prohibited electoral conduct.

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