San Francisco Frontiers - Lula, Bolsonaro lock horns in final debate before Brazil vote

The son of former president Jair Bolsonaro took a shock lead over Lula in a first-round vote, setting up a runoff on Sunday that could see Latin America's largest country join a regional shift to the right championed by US President Donald Trump.

The Brazilian left sprang into action after the unexpected result, staging massive rallies and launching an energetic online campaign to try to deliver Lula, 80, a comeback.

Both sides have accused each other of misusing social media, while Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is under fire over alleged unequal treatment of the candidates.

A Datafolha institute survey published Thursday shows the pair tied with 50 percent of voting intentions each, compared to Bolsonaro's four-point lead in polls published two weeks ago.

"The trend favors Lula, but he probably doesn't have enough time to flip the race," Eurasia Group wrote, adding that "the debate will be critical."

The first debate on Sunday quickly deteriorated into a barrage of insults, leaving little room for concrete proposals and voters more confused than ever.

A Quaest poll after the debate showed the number of undecided voters had doubled from seven to 14 percent.

"The debates have once again descended to a fifth-grade level, which is absurd," dentist and Bolsonaro voter Lizie Moreira, 60, told AFP.

- 'Fake news' -

Over a million people signed an online petition asking the Globo TV network to implement a live fact-checking system during the debate.

The candidates have accused each other of spreading disinformation during a campaign heavily based on fearmongering.

At a rally in the northeastern city of Fortaleza on Wednesday, Flavio Bolsonaro said he had to "debunk a lot of fake news," particularly claims that he would end social welfare programs to cut costs.

He has promised to resolve Brazil's crime woes, create 500,000 more spots in prisons and slash government spending.

"Lula wants to talk about proposals, unlike Bolsonaro, who prefers attacks and provocations," Social Communications Minister Sidonio Palmeira said Friday.

Brazil's current president "represents everything that I am," said 22-year-old Gabriela Ferreira at a leftist demonstration in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte.

"I am poor. I am a student. I depend on a scholarship to do my degree."

The former union leader presents himself as a defender of democracy and is largely counting on opposition to the Bolsonaro family's return to power.

Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup after his electoral defeat to Lula in 2022.

- Legal battles -

Legal disputes have dominated the bitter campaign.

Both candidates went to court this week to demand their opponent be disqualified over social media abuses.

Lula's campaign has accused tech giant Meta of "interference" in favor of Flavio Bolsonaro via alleged "algorithmic manipulation."

Meta has denied doing anything to favor one side, but admitted that some of Lula's campaign ads had been mistakenly deactivated due to technical errors.

An electoral court on Thursday gave Meta and X 24 hours to explain their criteria for distributing political content and adverts, as well as how they employ artificial intelligence.

Lula on Thursday called for the defeat of Meta's "digital empire" during a live broadcast with the "Lula's Army" WhatsApp channel, which saw its follower count balloon by over one million to reach over 10 million Friday.

"Meta will have to be reinvented; it cannot simply assume it can go on deceiving humanity forever."

His team is concerned about "the obvious alignment between Meta and the US government," Joao Brant, his campaign's digital strategy advisor, told AFP.

Trump has not explicitly endorsed Flavio Bolsonaro, whose father is an enthusiastic ally of the US leader.

The senator's first-round lead convinced Washington that the candidate did not need any "additional gesture" in his favor, according to a Brazilian government source.

Bolsonaro's campaign on Friday accused Lula's camp of "using public resources and digital structures to interfere" in the election.

I.Wright--SFF