Twitter has announced it’s expanding checks on political advertisers outside the U.S. to also cover Australia, India and all the member states of the European Union. This means anyone wanting to run political ads on its platform in those regions will first need to go through its certification process to prove their identity and certify […]
View More Twitter names first international markets to get checks on political advertisersCategory: Political Advertising
Brexit backer’s insurance firm and leave campaign fined £120k by data watchdog
The UK’s data protection watchdog has issued fines against a pro-Brexit campaign, Leave.EU, and an insurance company owned by the largest individual donor to the leave cause, Arron Banks’ Eldon Insurance. The penalties have been handed down for what the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) dubs “serious breaches of electronic marketing laws” during the 2016 referendum on […]
View More Brexit backer’s insurance firm and leave campaign fined £120k by data watchdogEurope dials up pressure on tech giants over election security
The European Union has announced a package of measures intended to step up efforts and pressure on tech giants to combat democracy-denting disinformation ahead of the EU parliament elections next May. The European Commission Action Plan, which was presented at a press briefing earlier today, has four areas of focus: 1) Improving detection of disinformation; 2) […]
View More Europe dials up pressure on tech giants over election securityGoogle lays outs narrow “EU election advertiser” policy ahead of 2019 vote
Google has announced its plan for combating election interference in the European Union, ahead of elections next May when up to 350 million voters across the region will vote to elect 705 Members of the European Parliament. In a blog post laying out a narrow approach to democracy-denting disinformation, Google says it will introduce a […]
View More Google lays outs narrow “EU election advertiser” policy ahead of 2019 voteFacebook rolls out checks for UK political ads
Facebook has announced it rolled out a system of checks on political ads run on its platform in the UK which requires advertisers to verify their identity and location to try to make it harder for foreign actors to meddle in domestic elections and referenda. This follows similar rollouts of political ad transparency tools in […]
View More Facebook rolls out checks for UK political adsTech and ad giants sign up to Europe’s first weak bite at ‘fake news’
The European Union’s executive body has signed up tech platforms and ad industry players to a voluntary Code of Practice aimed at trying to do something about the spread of disinformation online. Something, just not anything too specifically quantifiable. According to the Commission, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Mozilla, some additional members of the EDIMA trade association, […]
View More Tech and ad giants sign up to Europe’s first weak bite at ‘fake news’Fake news inquiry calls for social media levy to defend democracy
A UK parliamentary committee which has been running a multi-month investigation into the impact of online disinformation on political campaigning — and on democracy itself — has published a preliminary report highlighting what it describes as “significant concerns” over the risks to “shared values and the integrity of our democratic institutions”. It’s calling for “urgent […]
View More Fake news inquiry calls for social media levy to defend democracyIt’s official: Brexit campaign broke the law — with social media’s help
The UK’s Electoral Commission has published the results of a near nine-month-long investigation into Brexit referendum spending and has found that the official Vote Leave campaign broke the law by breaching election campaign spending limits. Vote Leave broke the law including by channeling money to a Canadian data firm, AggregateIQ, to use for targeting political […]
View More It’s official: Brexit campaign broke the law — with social media’s helpFacebook under fresh political pressure as UK watchdog calls for “ethical pause” of ad ops
The UK’s privacy watchdog revealed yesterday that it intends to fine Facebook the maximum possible (£500k) under the country’s 1998 data protection regime for breaches related to the Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal. But that’s just the tip of the regulatory missiles now being directed at the platform and its ad-targeting methods — and indeed, at […]
View More Facebook under fresh political pressure as UK watchdog calls for “ethical pause” of ad opsDigital campaigning vs democracy: UK election regulator calls for urgent law changes
A report by the UK’s Electoral Commission has called for urgent changes in the law to increase transparency about how digital tools are being used for political campaigning, warning that an atmosphere of mistrust is threatening the democratic process. The oversight body, which also regulates campaign spending, has spent the past year examining how digital campaigning […]
View More Digital campaigning vs democracy: UK election regulator calls for urgent law changesWashington sues Facebook and Google over failure to disclose political ad spending
Facebook and Google were paid millions for political advertising purposes in Washington but failed for years to publish related information — such as the advertiser’s address — as required by state law, alleges a lawsuit by the state’s attorney general.
View More Washington sues Facebook and Google over failure to disclose political ad spendingZuckerberg didn’t make any friends in Europe today
Speaking in front of EU lawmakers today Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg namechecked the GDPR’s core principles of “control, transparency and accountability” — claiming his company will deliver on all that, come Friday, when a new European Union data protection framework, GDPR, starts being applied, finally with penalties worth the enforcement. However there was little transparency […]
View More Zuckerberg didn’t make any friends in Europe today