Lula’s Win Signals Fight to Regulate Social Media Will Escalate in Brazil

In an extraordinary win after the largest popular campaign in the country’s democratic history, Brazil re-elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party (PT) to another term. Lula’s victory is not only a defeat for the far-right candidate, Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL). It is also a defeat for United States President Donald Trump — who had in Bolsonaro a subservient ally — and for Big Tech companies faced by mass accusations that they manipulated public debate and harmed Lula.

Now, anchored in a huge political victory, Brazil’s push to regulate Big Tech is set to reach a new level. In his first victory speech minutes after his re-election, Lula signaled that he will treat the regulation of large platforms as a priority. “This was an election in which we had to overcome outside interference coming in through digital platforms, which we are going to have to regulate,” he said. “We cannot have monstrous companies earning billions, paying no taxes, and trying to steer this country’s electoral outcome.”