Google has said that in the EU it will stop distributing political ads and any ads or communications from any political party in Europe.
The company complained that as political ad transparency rules take effect (Transparency and Targeting in Political Advertising oh TTPA), from October 2025 it will not be possible to circulate such advertising, or rather, in his opinion, the rules of the European Parliament are not clear enough and in order to avoid problems in complying with the wishes of the EU, he would rather eliminate any kind of advertising Advertisements like this.
February this year European Parliament explicitly adopts new rules on transparency and targeting of paid political adsA set of rules that should make electoral and referendum campaigns “more transparent and resistant to interference”.
Under the new rules, political ads must be clearly labeled. Citizens, authorities and journalists will be able to easily access information about why an ad reaches them, who pays for it and from where, the price of the ad and which elections or referendums the ad relates to. All political advertising and related information will be archived in an online public archive.
In a bid to limit foreign interference in Europe’s democratic processes, advertising sponsorship from non-EU countries will be banned in the three months before an election or referendum.
“Targeting and amplification technologies” only apply to online political advertising based on personal data collected with the explicit and separate consent of the person concerned. Special categories of personal data (such as race, religion, sexual orientation) or data about minors cannot be used.
The rules only cover political advertising remuneration. They do not affect the content of political advertising or the rules governing the development and funding of political campaigns. Personal views, political opinions, such as any unsponsored news content, or communications from official national or EU sources related to organizations and participating in elections (such as candidate announcements) are not included.
Google stressed that this is not the first time it has decided Block any communications from political parties or their sponsors on their networks: Many countries including France, Brazil and Canada have asked him to block any form of election advertising in these countries.
In light of the many issues observed online regarding these issues, the EU has decided to regulate political advertising on various online platforms with a view to limiting possible manipulation and fake news: Disinformation is an increasingly evident phenomenon worldwide ; Social media, with its personalizing tools, makes it easier to spread false stories and often uses emotion to attract attention and generate clicks for financial or ideological purposes, making it difficult even for young people with digital skills to identify Manipulated news.
Research from the European Parliament shows that Six out of ten news stories shared on social media were not even read by users before being shared. Some 85% of Europeans believe fake news is a problem in their country, and 83% believe it is a problem for democracy as a whole
