Italian MEP Sandro Gozi (Renew Europe) will present his report on transparency in online political advertising (see EUROPE 12865/14) to members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) on 11 and 12 July.
“Politics is constantly changing shape, and political advertising is becoming an increasingly significant part of it [...] Our challenge is to fight more effectively against all forms of disinformation and external interference in our democratic processes while preserving the openness of public debate”, commented the Italian rapporteur.
Mr Gozi’s draft report makes several clarifications regarding the scope of application and attempts to make it easier for users to detect political advertisements. This would mean that users would be able to easily find out why they are seeing an advertisement and who has paid for it.
In addition, the text also calls for harmonised sanctions across the EU and increased cooperation between national authorities by developing a common code of conduct.
Member States, the report says, should take “all necessary steps to put an immediate end to these practices”, and investigate them through “appropriate mechanisms and procedures, especially during election periods”.
In addition, the draft report addresses the issue of the nationality - or country of establishment - of service providers and entities sponsoring content in order to limit interference from third countries.
With regard to the detection of problematic content, the text also insists, among other things, on taking into account “all relevant factors, such as its content, the language used to transmit it, the context in which it is transmitted, its purpose and the means by which it is promoted, published or disseminated”.
See the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/2br (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)