BRUSSELS — Fresh European Union rules intended to improve transparency around online advertisements have sparked a wave of criticism, as major platforms shut down political ads instead of complying.
Campaigners say the law will cause a harmful loss of information after it triggered companies including Google, Meta and Microsoft to implement a blackout on political advertising. Politicians on both sides of the aisle said it could be detrimental to democratic debate.
The Commission said it is aware of the serious concerns and is continuing talks with Big Tech companies to mitigate the unintended impacts. At the heart of the EU’s attempt is a bid to curb political manipulation and foreign interference during elections.
The new law on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising, which kicked in on Friday, brings new restrictions and transparency requirements for paid political ads. Since the law was agreed, Google, Meta and Microsoft have all opted to stop showing political ads in the EU altogether.
“Smaller, newer parties and independent candidates will lose an affordable channel to reach voters, while large, well-followed accounts remain largely unaffected,” said liberal Slovak EU lawmaker Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová. “That shift risks narrowing who can be heard and makes campaigning harder for newcomers.”
She said that by axing political advertising, platforms are “taking the easier route,” which she regards as “a worrying signal” of tech firms refusing to seek compromises with rule makers.
Among the requirements, the law demands that platforms provide information on what election, referendum or legislative process the ad is linked to, how much it cost and details on any targeting techniques used.
In announcing their decisions, Google said the definition of political advertising is too broad, while Meta criticized targeted ad restrictions that ignore the “benefits [of personalized ads] to advertisers and the people they want to reach.”
Polish hard-right member of the European Parliament Piotr Müller said the rules are an example of over-regulation gone wild. “The political market will be consolidated, with large, well-known parties having the resources to meet the new requirements. This undermines pluralism and freedom of public debate,” he said.
Others think the blackout will benefit fringe politicians with more extreme views, to the detriment of those with moderate messaging.
“You cannot get 50 million views for boring policy videos. If your politicians do not have social media rizz, I think it disadvantages them now,” said Sam Jeffers, executive director and co-founder of WhoTargetsMe, a non-profit that tracks online campaigning.
Jeffers added that researchers risk losing access to political history as they lose visibility over data on the ads. “Seven years of historical data is gone” from Google’s political advertising library, he said, as it no longer includes the EU as a supported region.
“That for me was quite a chilling interpretation of this law,” he said, expressing concern that the same might happen to Meta’s database.
Google said in response that ads that would previously have been shown on its dedicated EU political ads transparency database will remain publicly available in its main advertising pages, subject to retention policies.
Google’s Ads library still contains information on at least some political ads, POLITICO found, but it seems to be mostly restricted to the previous year — which would be in line with the EU’s Digital Services Act requirements. The available information is also not as extensive as for other jurisdictions, and excludes for example the amount of money spent on ads.
Beyond politics
Companies have criticized a lack of guidance and clarity from the EU executive. The Commission published guidelines on the law this week, just two days before it took effect.
Based on the definition of political advertising, Meta also blocked “social issue” ads, while Microsoft won’t run “issue-based advertising.”
That could include ads about climate change, migration, social justice and human rights initiatives or any “politically sensitive or socially divisive issue,” Microsoft said.
The law’s definition covers anything meant to influence the outcome of an election, referendum, vote or legislative process — which could include campaigns by charities and civil society.
Small organizations that are “essential” to EU democracy will see their campaign and fundraising options limited, said Eoin Dubsky, senior campaign manager for advocacy group Eko.
The Commission only clarified this week that awareness or fundraising campaigns by NGOs shouldn’t always be considered political ads.
Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert defended the law, underlining in a comment for this article that it “does not ban political advertising.”
Lammert said Google and Meta are “private companies and their commercial decisions on the services and products they choose to offer are theirs to make,” but that the Commission is also aware of serious concerns from civil society about the impact.
A group of civil society organizations have written open letters to Meta and Google, calling for the companies to reconsider their decisions to block political ads in the EU.
The Commission’s Lammert said it is in contact with stakeholders and national governments to “assess the possible impact of Meta’s commercial decision,” and will continue discussions with both companies on the topic. It will also hold talks in 2026 to “learn from the experiences at that point and draw insights as necessary.”
For some, the furore is an unwelcome distraction as the EU grapples with enforcing other regulations — most notably its Digital Services Act to regulate content on social media platforms, which already includes requirements on advertising transparency.
The Commission should focus on tackling “toxic algorithms that push propaganda ahead of facts” and bombard users with “outrageous content” rather than “information they actually want,” said German Greens lawmaker Alexandra Geese.
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