According to the Financial Times on Sunday 26 August, the European Commission is said to be in the process of examining legislative measures for tackling the manipulation of voters' personal data for political ends.
According to this newspaper, the Commission is looking at ways to amend existing rules on the funding of European political parties, as well as the possibility of imposing fines on parties that misuse the personal data of voters in order to influence elections.
According to the Financial Times, this new penalty “would be the toughest element of a broader package of measures to be unveiled next month aimed at countering online voter manipulation and personal data misuse for political purposes”.
The newspaper also highlights the recommendations to governments for tackling the practice of “micro-targeting” as revealed in the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook affair (see EUROPE 11999).
On Monday 27 August Christian Wigand, a spokesperson for the Commission, provided assurances that the Commission was examining the risks by the online communication very seriously, particularly with the forthcoming European elections in 2019.
He refused to “speculate” on the contents of a potential legislative initiative at this stage but did state "It is crucial to tackle pressing issues such as political advertising online, transparency, cybersecurity and protection of private data of European voters and guaranteeing their liberty in decision making”. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)