European Parliament restricts tracking and micro-targeting for political ads
A broad majority within the European Parliament’s Justice Committee agreed today to ban tracking of internet users for political ads. After months of negotiations, the European Parliament set its position on a new law on political ads.
Dutch S&D MEP Paul Tang is satisfied: “Democracy is under great pressure from filter bubbles and manipulation with micro-targeting on social media. The agreement reached today bans tracking of online users and places major restrictions on targeting, especially in the run-up to elections. This guarantees fair elections.”
The bill presented last year requires digital platforms to be much more transparent about the funding of political ads, the amounts involved and the reach of the ads. In addition, the law tackles the use of special categories of personal data, such as on sexual preference or religion.
Parliament not only demands transparency on the creation of political ads on the platforms itself, but also creates an European repository in which political ads displayed on major platforms such as Facebook and Google will have to be discosed.
Tang: “With more transparency, restrictions on dissemination and effective monitoring, we can intervene immediately if elections are manipulated, like when Trump tried to discourage African-American voters from voting with a targeted campaign.”
Tang continues: “In the offline world, you can refuse a political leaflet or shut the door, but online you are harassed all day. This allows the richest and most aggressive political party to control information, while elections work best when everyone can have access to the same information.”
The Justice Committee’s position is likely to be adopted in the European Parliament plenary in March now that the proposal has support from the largest political groups in the European Parliament. The law itself will have to come into force in April 2024, just in time for the European Parliament elections in May 2024.
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