- Lack of Security Leaves Millions of Americans’ Medical Data Exposed Online
- New made-in-Vietnam social network rivals Facebook
In a letter addressed to Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, the chief executives of Facebook and Google, as well as Nick Clegg and Kent Walker, the heads of policy of the respective companies, the campaigners write that “with the announcement of the election coming in only six weeks, there is no time for regulations to catch up” with the reality of online advertising.
“This legislative blackspot is particularly concerning in light of Facebook’s recent policies to allow politicians to openly publish disinformation through ads. Equally concerning is the lack of transparency as to what data is being used to target ads, and how such ads are being targeted,” they say.
 |
“As we prepare to enter purdah, and without proper legislation, we’re calling on you to take a stand and issue an immediate moratorium on all political and issue-based advertising on your platforms until the conclusion of the UK parliamentary elections on 12 December.”
The letter, signed by representatives of seven organisations including Mozilla, Doteveryone, the Open Data Institute and Sheffield University, notes the decision to voluntarily pause political adverts is not without precedent.
“Google blocked political advertising two weeks before polling day,” the letter says. “In the Israeli and Canadian elections, political ads were blocked outright for the duration of the election period.”
Twitter has announced a voluntary suspension of all political adverts, with the chief executive, Jack Dorsey, writing: “It’s not credible for us to say: ‘We’re working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info, but if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political ad … well … they can say whatever they want’.
