A Paucity of Data

In October 2018 the major online platforms signed the European Code of Practice on Disinformation, a self-regulatory framework designed to “address the spread of online disinformation and fake news” across the European Union (European Commission, 2019). Under Pillar 5 of the Code of Practice, Facebook, Google, and Twitter committed to supporting “good faith independent efforts to track Disinformation and understand its impact…” (European Commission, 2018, Chapter II.E., para. 12).

Transparency in Digital Political Advertisements during the 2019 European Parliament Elections

This report assesses the degree of transparency in digital political advertising during the campaign period of the 2019 European Parliament elections in the Netherlands. It is part of the project ‘Virtual Insanity: The need for transparency in digital political advertising’, which was implemented by a consortium of European democracy support organizations, i.e. the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), the Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC) and the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid (WLA-CdM).

Suspicious Election Campaign Activity on Facebook

News reports and scholarly research have noted European far-right populist parties are overrepresented on social media, relative to their standing in the polls. Several factors might contribute to this phenomenon.

The disinformation order: Disruptive communication and the decline of democratic institutions

Many democratic nations are experiencing increased levels of false information circulating through social media and political websites that mimic journalism formats. In many cases, this disinformation is associated with the efforts of movements and parties on the radical right to mobilize supporters against centre parties and the mainstream press that carries their messages.