AI-Generated Deepfake Videos Used in Political Attack Against Lula in Brazil
The PT party filed a complaint with Brazil's electoral authority on July 30, 2026, alleging that senator Flávio Bolsonaro and federal deputies Mário Frias and Gustavo Gayer deployed AI-generated deepfake videos across coordinated Instagram profiles to defame presidential candidate Lula and the PT party during the 2026 election campaign. The complaint cited 90 offensive publications and invoked the TSE's 2019 ban on deepfakes in electoral campaigns.
What happened
The Federação Brasil de Esperança, led by the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), filed a complaint with the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE) on July 30, 2026, against senator Flávio Bolsonaro and federal deputies Mário Frias and Gustavo Gayer of the Partido Liberal (PL).
The PT alleged that 90 publications across 31 Instagram profiles were distributing AI-generated synthetic content offensive to Lula and the PT party. The complaint cited a coordinated network of profiles using artificial intelligence to produce and disseminate defamatory content at scale through platform collaboration features.
One example video showed Lula in front of the White House wearing a shirt stating 'Trump, deixe nossos bandidos em paz,' an apparent reference to discussions about Brazilian criminal organizations.
Reported impact
The PT sought removal of the AI-generated content from Instagram, which has approximately 135 million users in Brazil.
Index analysis
The TSE Resolution 23.610 of 2019 prohibits the use of deepfakes in electoral campaigns and bans the monetization of political electoral advertising on the internet. The PT invoked this regulation as grounds for removing the materials.
Flávio Bolsonaro's office responded that the complaint sought to censor ordinary internet memes made by common citizens, characterizing the PT's action as censorship rather than enforcement of electoral rules.
Governance controls
The PT filed a formal complaint through Brazil's electoral authority, invoking existing deepfake prohibitions under electoral law.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.