Date: 2021
Type: Technical Report
Issue-based advertising
Technical Report, [Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF)], European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), 2021
NENADIC, Iva, BLEYER-SIMON, Konrad, Issue-based advertising, [Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF)], European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), 2021 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/74326
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
Issue-based advertising is a form of paid-for advertising which advocates for broad political and legislative issues rather than specific candidates or political parties. It is a relevant problem when it comes to regulating the online environment. Platforms provide politically motivated actors with the opportunity to make use of a large amount of personal data and micro-target advertising. Many of these advertisements are paid for or run by actors with no formal political affiliation.
To better understand who caters what kinds of messages with potentially political goals and to which audiences, meaningful transparency should be required from both advertisers and online platforms. This is highlighted in the 2018 Code of Practice on Disinformation (Code), issue-based advertising, however, is undefined here. Instead, the text requires signatories to come up with their own definition. Relying on signatories’ self-reports, press releases, and content policy explanations, this report maps the terminology and descriptions used by signatories and the European Commission. As our analysis shows, each signatory approaches issue-based advertising differently; what they mean by the term and how they operationalise it in their policies, however, is rarely defined.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/74326
External link: https://edmo.eu/reports/
Series/Number: [Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF)]; European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO); 2021
Publisher: European Digital Media Observatory
Sponsorship and Funder information:
This project has received funding from the European Union under Contract number: LC-01464044