Political advertising industry braces for EU Commission's decision on political advertisement regulations
The European Union's new political advertising rules, aimed at countering information manipulation and foreign interference, will be fully applicable from October 10. These rules have sparked concerns among tech giants, publishers, and media organisations alike.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has voiced concerns about the significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties the new legislation presents, as well as the unworkable requirements it contains. Google has announced that it will stop all ads about politics, elections, and social issues on its platforms in the EU as the new rules enter into force.
The Publishers Council, which represents CEOs of Europe's leading media organisations, has expressed worry that publishers may not be able to comply with the new rules. The Dutch parliamentary election on 29 October will be the first where these rules will apply in full, and there are concerns that publishers may not have the technical means to comply or to refuse political advertisements if they are served through programmatic advertising.
The broad definition of political actors may be challenging to implement, according to the European Advertisers Standards Alliance. Organisations have expressed concerns about the ambiguity of the definition of political advertising in the new rules. The alliance wants to ensure that matters of commercial advertising are excluded from the definition.
The European Commission has pledged to provide further guidance on the implementation of the new EU political advertising rules. However, more clarity is needed on what political advertising campaigns refer to, according to the European Broadcasting Union. The union has raised questions about whether a series of ads encouraging audiences to act in a more environmentally conscious manner could be deemed to be an 'in-house' activity that is designed to influence political processes.
The new rules require political ads to be labeled and to clearly identify key information such as sponsors, the election they are linked to, the amounts paid, and targeting techniques. The SPD parliamentary group representatives Jasmina Hostert and Felix Döring have criticized unclear definitions of political advertising and demanded clearer interpretations regarding sponsor identification, formats for explanations to ensure consistency, and verification processes to secure the authenticity of sponsors.
The European Broadcasting Union, an alliance of 113 public service media organizations, in 56 countries in Europe and beyond, shares the same concerns about the definition of political advertising campaigns. Whether certain non-remunerated issue-based ads could be covered under the definition is not entirely clear, as stated by the European Broadcasting Union.
The EU's rules on transparency and targeting of political advertising (TTPA) entered into force in April 2024, but most of the provisions will become fully applicable on October 10 this year. As the deadline approaches, it remains to be seen how these concerns will be addressed and how the new rules will be implemented across the EU.
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