In 2021, the European Commission tabled a proposal for a regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, while some EU member states also try to incorporate their solutions into ongoing reforms of national electoral laws. In the proposed EU regulation, “political advertising” is defined to encompass electoral advertising or advertising coming from political parties and candidates and any advertising linked to elections, referenda, and regulatory or legislative processes, regardless of who sponsors it. The desire to escape responsibility could lead platforms to over-remove legitimate ads and thus adversely impact fundamental rights and freedoms, such as the freedom of expression. Civil society could also bear the cost of this controversial proposal as many of their adverts would be categorized as “political” and therefore fall under this mechanism. Read more here.
Source: ECNL