Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Digital Political Advertising

Thursday 28 April 2022 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Electoral Commission recognizes that social media companies have taken steps to increase transparency in online campaigning but believes more can be done.
  • The commission is aware of the issue with unincorporated associations evading transparency requirements and using digital advertising for political messages.
  • The Electoral Commission noted that the recent Elections Bill did not propose changes to the statutory framework for addressing the transparency of political actors.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Kevin Brennan Lab
Democracy & Elections
Context

The question arises from concerns about the transparency and truthfulness of digital political advertising which significantly impacts voter engagement.

Question

To ask the hon. Member for City of Chester, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the commission has made of the impact of digital political advertising on free and fair elections. Digital political advertising in general is largely unregulated, allowing for misleading adverts and foreign influence, raising concerns across the House.

Answer from Chris Matheson

The commission recognises that many social media companies have taken welcome steps towards increasing transparency around online campaigning, but it also believes that more can be done to deliver the transparency that voters expect. It has recommended that social media companies should publish information about referendum or election adverts on their platforms with standardised data about costs and targeting.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not specify if new regulation is needed beyond what social media companies are doing, nor did it provide details on specific recommendations to the Government.

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Q2 Kevin Brennan Lab
Scotland Democracy & Elections
Context

In Scotland, there has been a rise in campaign groups using digital advertising to hide the source of their finances through unincorporated association structures.

Question

Has the Electoral Commission considered investigating the use of unincorporated associations to evade final transparency in politics? In Scotland before the Scottish parliamentary elections we saw a number of campaign groups spring up using digital advertising to peddle political messages that used unincorporated association structures to hide the source of their finances.

Answer from Chris Matheson

The commission is well aware of this issue, but in the recent Elections Bill the Government did not propose any change in the statutory framework under which the commission operates. There is an issue over people and organisations that are not registered as political actors putting out social media posts, because the current digital imprints provisions seemingly do not apply to them.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not confirm if investigation into unincorporated associations has been conducted or will be considered in future Bills.

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Q3 Deidre Brock SNP
Policing & Resources Local Government
Context

A constituent brought to the MP's attention some Facebook advertising by his local Conservative Association encouraging people to report potholes through the association instead of directing them to the council website.

Question

I declare an interest, in that my wife is a local authority member—and what a good job she does! I have to say that. A constituent recently brought to my attention some Facebook advertising by my local Conservative Association encouraging people to report potholes and other street affairs through the association. I have no problem with issues like that being raised, but I do not understand why the association could not just direct people to the council website where there is an online reporting facility. Will my hon. Friend look into the reasons why that arrangement exists?

Answer from Chris Matheson

I shall also declare an interest: my hon. Friend is my constituency next-door neighbour, and I also know his wife, who is a councillor, although neutrality restricts me from saying what an excellent councillor she is. In answer to his question, if the advertising is legal under the current framework, there would be no reason for the commission to have a concern over it.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not address why the association chose this method of reporting and its implications beyond legality.

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