Unregulated online political advertising presents privacy and democracy threats. The EU’s Regulation tackles transparency, targeting, and misinformation issues, enhancing accountability. The use of data for precise targeting endangers privacy and perpetuates polarization. Insufficient transparency leads to year-round, opaque political advertising and undermines electoral rules. The Regulation strives to curb dark money’s influence and mandates transparency. Online ads’ distinction from organic content remains a challenge, impacting informed voting. Member States’ difficulties enforcing political ad regulations reveal the need for coordinated EU action.
In the paper below we address the following 3 questions:
- Why should we regulate online political ads?
- What about non-legislative measures?
- Is there legal basis for an EU Regulation?
