EU lawmakers back tougher rules on targeted political ads

BRUSSELS EU lawmakers agreed on Thursday to tougher rules on targeted political advertising aimed at countering misinformation during elections, drawing support from Google's YouTube and civil rights activists and concerns from a tech lobbying group.

The European Commission proposed a draft rules last year that would make Alphabet's Google, Meta Platforms and other social media giants more accountable and transparent.

The rules require U.S. tech giants to provide more data on their targeted political ads, with fines up to 4% of their global turnover for breaches.

EU lawmakers toughened up some of the provisions in the Commission's draft and will now have to thrash out details with EU countries before the proposed regulation can become legislation.

The European Parliament said that only personal data explicitly provided for online political advertising can be used by advert providers.

Micro-targeting, a strategy that uses consumer data and demographics to identify the interests of specific individuals, will not be possible. The ban on using minors' data and the ban on non-EU entities from financing political advertisements in the EU were supported by lawmakers.

They proposed setting up an online repository for all online political ads and related data, and the possibility of periodic penalties for repeated violations. They also proposed that large advertisement service providers be required to suspend their services for 15 days with particular clients over systemic infringements.

YouTube gave a thumbs-up to the proposals by the lawmakers against the EU countries' much broader remit.

The Parliament has reached a position that removes the unintended consequence of limiting political speech online, according to David Wheeldon, head of government affairs and public policy at YouTube, EMEA.

He said that the current Council proposals go beyond ads and paid-for content and could result in a significant reduction in political content and debate online, impacting creators and viewers.

CCIA, a tech lobbying group, called for clarity on the definition of political advertisements and proportionate obligations.

Patrick Breyer, a lawmaker and civil rights advocate, said Parliament was taking a stand against surveillance-based political advertising.

From the Donald Trump and the Brexit campaigns, we have learned that you can manipulate a voter if you know which message works on them, he said.