Opinions

Transparency on political ads on social media: The spirit might be willing but is the flesh strong enough?


It is welcome that Google will publicise who pays for political ads in the 2019 general elections in India and will also try to crack down on fake news. This is of the essence, and other major technology companies, particularly Facebook and Twitter must follow suit. Since Whatsapp does not carry ads, its contribution would be, or rather, should be, to weed out fake news on its platform, the most widely accessed social media platform in India.

However, the challenge is complex, even if Google is willing to identify the payer of a political ad. Suppose it emerges that the payer is ABC company (pvt) Ltd. And that ABC is owned by DEF company pvt ltd, which, in turn is owned by GHI Co registered in Mauritius. Since India does not oblige companies to reveal their beneficial owners, it would be too much to expect Google to lift corporate veil after veil to reveal the ultimate payer of political ads. So let us not build expectations too high.

However, it would be a great service if Google were to identify a political ad clearly as a paid-for advertisement, removing all confusion as to whether it is editorial matter or not.

Native advertising is all the rage on social media. As the name suggests, it blends into the look, feel and editorial flow of the site, making it difficult for the reader to realise that what she is reading is an ad rather than editorially validated content devoid of bias towards the subject of the advertisement. Google and Facebook would do a major service, if they were to make it clear that the paid-for ad is clearly discernible as an ad on their sites.

This expenditure should be factored in by the Election Commission, while totalling up expenditure by or on behalf of candidates and parties in an election campaign.





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