Protesters ransacked Supreme Court rooms in an attack that lasted more than three hours (Image: Reuters)

Facebook parent company Meta and YouTube will remove content this weekend that supports or promotes the looting of Brazilian government buildings by anti-democratic protesters.

Tens of thousands of supporters of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro smashed the windows of the presidential palace on Sunday in an attack that lasted more than three hours, flooded parts of Congress with sprinklers and looted the Supreme Court.

“Prior to the election, we designated Brazil as a temporary high-risk location and removed content that encouraged people to take up arms or use force to enter the Congress, Presidential Palace and other federal buildings,” said he, a spokesman for Meta.

“We also classify this as an abusive event, which means we will remove content that supports or praises these actions,” he said.

“We are actively monitoring the situation and will continue to remove content that violates our policies.”

Facebook and YouTube will remove content that supports Brazil’s unrest (Image: AFP)

Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office on January 1 after beating Bolsonaro in a runoff election in October and ending Brazil’s most right-wing government in decades.

Bolsonaro refused to admit defeat and some supporters claimed the election was stolen, with people taking to social media and messaging platforms such as Twitter, Telegram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook to organize protests.

A YouTube spokesperson told Reuters that the video-sharing company is “closely monitoring” the situation in Brazil, where social media platforms have been ordered to block users accused of complicity in the attack.

Our Trust and Safety team removes content that violates our Community Guidelines, including live streams and videos that incite violence.

In addition, our systems ensure that relevant content appears prominently on our homepage, at the top of search results and in recommendations. We will remain vigilant as the situation evolves.”

FILE - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro addresses a joint press conference with the President of Paraguay at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on November 24, 2021. disease. Obstruction, the country's media reported. (AP Photo/Raul Spinasse, file)

Tens of thousands of supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro attacked Brazil’s Congress on Sunday (Photo: AP)

A Telegram representative said the private messaging app has been working with the Brazilian government and fact-checking groups to prevent the spread of content that incites violence.

Telegram is a platform that supports the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest. Calls for violence are expressly prohibited on our platform,” said a spokesman.

Our moderators use a combination of proactive monitoring in public areas of our platform in addition to accepting user reports to remove such content.

TikTok and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Twitter’s Brazilian staff has shrunk heavily following Elon Musk’s acquisition in October, including eight employees who oversaw trending topics and helped add context to tweets perceived as misinformation. considered.

Social media companies were criticized for not doing enough when supporters of former US President Donald Trump marched into the US Capitol two years ago.

Platforms such as Facebook and YouTube have said they are working to remove misleading information about elections and voting.