As advertising in newspapers, TV, billboards, and radio moved online, the digital domain has become the centre of campaigning across Europe, with large platforms such as Meta, Google, and Snapchat dominating the market. Online advertising techniques have evolved to include the use of personal data in the targeting and delivery of ads, the hiring of influencers, and the fragmentation and tailoring of specific audience for campaigns.
As online advertising became more prominent, scandals such as Cambridge Analytica in 2018 and several cases of election interference and incitement of violence around the world laid bare the problems of political advertising online. In such a fraught ecosystem, fundamental rights to expression, privacy, and participation are at risk and fair electoral competition is at stake.
In the paper below we address the following questions:
- Why regulate online political ads?
- What policies are on the way or are in place?
- What policy actions can the EU and members states take?
