Employees at Meta acknowledged in internal communications that the Instagram accounts of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were negatively affected by restrictions during the country's election, newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported on Friday, citing messages it reviewed.

The messages also acknowledged that the platform recommended the profile of challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, as well as his WhatsApp channel, according to the report.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.