Last week, negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council reached an agreement on the new regulation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertisement. While we don’t yet know everything, here are some aspects that will certainly impact public affairs professionals and campaigners alike:
- Rules Will Trickle Down: The new rules will affect not only European Parliament elections but also all national and local votes, referendums, and regulatory processes. While clashes with national election and lobbying transparency definitions are anticipated, it is hoped that these rules will bring more clarity to campaigners by establishing a common standard for political and social ads across all platforms.
- Exceptions for the 2024 EP Campaign: Most of these new rules will not apply to the 2024 European Parliament (EP) campaign election. A key change for 2024 is that platforms will be required to allow the promotion of content across Europe, which addresses a significant challenge in running pan-European campaigns.
- Restrictions on Paid Voter Mobilisation Campaigns: In 18 months, paid voter mobilisation campaigns targeting LGBTI groups, trade unions, specific party voters, religious, or ethnic groups will be significantly restricted, if not outright impossible. Decision-makers assert that organic content will remain outside the scope of the regulation.
- AI in Social and Political Advertising: The use of AI for social and political advertising continues to be governed by self-regulation, similar to recent Meta regulations on labeling AI-generated content.
- Restrictions for Non-EU NGOs: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) registered outside of the EU will be prohibited from using paid advertisements in Europe.
- Data Accessibility for Research and Campaigns: A substantial amount of new data will become available for researchers and campaigners. It is hoped that this data will be accessible in real time, allowing for the analysis and tracking of campaigns as they unfold.
Work on the regulation will continue at technical level in the coming weeks to finalise the details of the new regulation.