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In an attempt to cut down on misinformation, the British government has announced plans to force all online political campaign materials to carry a 'digital imprint' showing who's behind them.
Currently, election leaflets and the like must reveal who created and paid for them, but online political advertiseing is largely unregulated.
But the new digital imprints would apply to all types of campaign content, regardless of the country it's being promoted from, and across all digital platforms, including social media. They would be required at all times, rather than just during election campaigns.
The imprint should ideally be displayed as part of the digital content, or at least be easily available via a link.
"People want to engage with politics online. That’s where campaigners connect with voters and is why, ahead of elections, almost half of political advertising budgets are now spent on digital content and activity," says minister for the constitution and devolution Chloe Smith.
"But people want to know who is talking. Voters value transparency, so we must ensure that there are clear rules to help them see who is behind campaign content online."
The imprint would be required where the content is aimed at helping a particular party, group or individual win an election or referendum; or where it's created by registered political parties, registered third party campaigners, candidates, holders of elected office and registered referendum campaigners.
While this applies to both paid and organic digital content, other campaigners will need the imprint for paid digital content only.
The proposals have been welcomed by Facebook.
"We have long called for updated rules for the era of digital political campaigning and so we welcome the government’s consultation," says head of UK public policy Rebecca Stimson.
"Facebook has led the way on online transparency by requiring all political ads on our platforms to have a ‘paid for by’ disclaimer and placing them into an Ad Library for everyone to see. We look forward to further engaging with the government on this important consultation."
Who Targets Me, which has been campaigning on political advertising, says the new proposals fall short. The group wants to see a clear definition of what constitutes 'political' advertising, a limit on the number of ads permitted, and a blackout period in the 24 hours before voters go to the polls.
"The challenge is that these types of ideas cross regulatory boundaries and there’s no proposal to draw it all together into a single way of approaching campaigning in the digital age," says the group.
"For example, at the moment, the Committee on Standards in Public Life is consulting on political finance and donations, while the Cabinet Office is consulting on digital imprints, while DCMS works on Online Harms."
Meanwhile, the proposals have been welcomed by the Electoral Reform Society.
"For too long, our democracy has been wide open to anonymous ‘dark ads’, dodgy donors, and foreign interference online. This won’t solve all that, but it will help to plug one of the many leaks in HMS Democracy," says chief executive Darren Hughes.
"This move will need to be well-enforced, and with strong sanctions for unscrupulous campaigners. Currently the fines the Electoral Commission can levy are seen as the ‘cost of doing business’. Ministers must not be able to pass the buck to Silicon Valley giants either: we need clear reporting standards so voters, the media and researchers can see who is trying to steer our debate in real time."
