The European Union is set to implement new rules that will require all political advertising to be clearly labelled with information about who funded it and how much they paid. The move comes amid growing concerns about foreign interference in elections, particularly from Russia. The UK government on the other hand is unconcerned, and when the Lords requested similar regulations be included in last year’s Elections Act, they actively chose not to.
In Brussels, the proposed EU rules, which have been provisionally agreed upon by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, would require political advertisers to disclose the identity of the advertiser, the amount of money spent, and the target audience for the ad. The rules would also prohibit the use of personal data to target political advertising without the explicit consent of the individual.
The new rules are expected to come into effect 18 months after they are approved, “in time for the next European Parliament elections,” said Sandro Gozi, the MEP responsible for the legislation in the European Parliament.
Mixed reception in the EU
The rules have been welcomed by some, but others have expressed concerns that they could stifle political debate. The Computer Communications Industry Association, a trade association representing communications and tech firms, said that the rules “still leave vague language unaddressed, which risks making harmonised implementation difficult.”
The new rules are a significant step towards ensuring greater transparency and accountability in political advertising. They will help to protect voters from manipulation and disinformation, and they will promote a more level playing field for all political actors.
Comparison with the UK
In contrast to the EU, the UK has no comprehensive laws governing political advertising. This has created an environment in which ‘dark money’ can flow into political coffers via donations. According to OpenDemocracy, the term refers to “money given to political parties, campaigns or politicians, whose sources are not disclosed in an attempt to influence the democratic process.” This lack of transparency makes it difficult for voters to know who is funding political campaigns and what their motivations are.
In 2020, the Lords Democracy and Digital select committee unanimously agreed regulation was needed to monitor digital advertising in their Digital Technology and the Resurrection of Trust report. Johnson’s government’s response was to say it was an “immediate priority” and that it would be included in the forthcoming Elections Bill. However, when it came to passing the Elections Act 2022, the promise was quietly dropped. Lord Putnam, who had worked on the report was unequivocal in his condemnation: “The Tory digital team don’t want to be regulated, because they want to be able to lie,” he said.
In a move that some believe will make UK elections more open to manipulation, the government two weeks ago quietly hiked the maximum election spending limits for parties from £19.5m to £35m – a rise of 80%. This is the amount that party HQs can spend. At the same time, they increased the amount an individual can donate to a party without declaring who it came from, from £7,500 to £11,180. This was carried out by ministers using a statutory instrument which means it won’t go to parliament for a debate or a vote.
Questions are being raised about this unprecedented rise in the election spending cap. The Electoral Commission has slapped down the government asking: “who benefits from this, is it the public?” In the Lords, Lib Dem peer Lord Rennard asked, “Why does this Government seem to think that it needs to spend up to £36m pounds to try and get re-elected and what will those donors expect in return for this cash?” But it was Lord Prem Sikka, a Labour peer, who made the most explicit accusation. He said, “The rich don’t actually donate money – they invest, and they expect a return.”
In 2021, Open Democracy published an article revealing that a number of pro-Tory third-party campaign groups spent more than £700,000 ahead of the 2019 general election. Not only wasn’t a single donation declared, but all the groups also disappeared months later.
Governments resist transparency
Successive recent governments have been slow to act on the issue of election spending despite calls from campaigners for greater transparency. In 2018, the Electoral Commission launched an inquiry into political advertising, but the inquiry’s findings were inconclusive.
The lack of transparency in both political advertising and donations is a serious concern. It opens the door to foreign interference in elections and it makes it difficult for voters to hold political parties accountable. The government has no plans to follow the EU’s lead in taking urgent action to address this issue. Indeed, when taken together: a failure to regulate digital advertising, the prevalence of unaccountable pro-Tory third-party campaign groups that go uninvestigated, and a huge hike in the spending cap, it can only point to only one thing: when it comes to the next election, the Conservatives want to game the system.
