INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
All over the country, voters, reporters and other observers have been going through something of an awakening about the extent that
political parties are using social media to target us.In a post-Cambridge Analytica-scandal world there's suspicion about how we might be
being manipulated.To address concerns, the tech giants have created databases to show what political adverts are being run and by
whom.There's no doubt that more is being disclosed than in previous campaigns, but critics say there's still much more that "big tech" could
reveal.Let's start with Facebook.In October last year, it launched its Ad Library in the UK
Since then, more than 131,400 adverts related to politics, elections, and social issues have been added to the database
That's almost £11m worth, according to the firm.Image copyrightFacebookImage caption
Facebook launched its political
ads library in the UK a year ago
The library is free to use and easy to navigate
And recently it began including ads run on the firm's photo-centric app, Instagram.You can look up roughly how many times an ad was seen,
its approximate cost, the gender and age of those targeted and who made and paid for the advert
You can also see whether an ad was aimed at people in England, Scotland, Wales and/or Northern Ireland.Image copyrightFacebookImage caption
This is the data Facebook provided for one ad run by the Labour Party
However, there's still much that is
not shared.We know that political parties target voters in very specific areas, such as marginal seats, but the library doesn't reveal where
We also know that people are targeted by personal details - for example, interested in "the environment" or "yoga" or more political
interests, like "GMB union"
But that information, too, is not shared to the wider public.Image copyrightFacebookImage caption
Facebook allows users
to be targeted by interests including environmentalism and specific trade unions
Facebook has previously said that
transparency is important to "prevent future interference in elections".So reporters recently pressed it about these shortcomings
The firm said it planned to improve the database but would not be drawn on whether it intended to divulge the missing information about
geographic or interest-based targeting.When shown an ad, Facebook users can ask for more specific information about how it came to be shown
to them.The TheIndianSubcontinent and other news organisations have been trying to crowdsource the information from those targeted
But that only gives a fragmented view of what is going on - an unsatisfactory state of affairs, according to the co-founder of the Coalition
for Reform of Political Advertising."Voters having the full picture of how they're targeted is important, as it may impact their evaluation
of the information being conveyed to them," Benedict Pringle told the TheIndianSubcontinent."If a voter knows they are being targeted
because of their age, sex or occupation it might encourage them to question the message and think, 'Yes, well you would be saying that to
me, wouldn't you?' "Also, if techniques deployed by political actors are unavailable for scrutiny by watchdogs and journalists it can enable
malpractice."But Facebook claims that it is now "more transparent" about ads than those behind more traditional outlets, such as billboards,
direct mail, leaflets or targeted email campaigns."This is the first UK general election since we introduced these changes and we're already
seeing many journalists using these transparency tools to scrutinise the adverts which are running during this election," said Rebecca
Stimson, head of Facebook's UK Public Policy."This is something we welcome and it's exactly why we introduced these changes."In the 2017
general election, more than £3m was spent by all parties on Facebook.But a further £1m or so went to another often overlooked source -
Image copyrightGoogleImage caption
Google lets users select whether they want to see ads run as text, video or images
Ads can be purchased to appear at the top of its search results, within its YouTube videos or placed on third-party webpages
via its ad tech platforms.So, for example, a user might have been shown brief text-based messages by the Conservative Party promising to
make "our streets safer" or the Brexit Party promising to "stand up for democracy".Google launched its own version of a political ad library
in March, and has so far listed more than 1,400, totalling £144,500
But it is far more vague than Facebook about the details
When it lists the amount spent, it does so only in large bands, for example "from £500-£25,000"
Likewise, the range for the number of people reported to have seen an ad is very broad- for example, "between 10,000 and 100,000"
Moreover, the site says the details are updated "generally" only every week.Image copyrightGoogleImage caption
Google
provides less detail about how ads were targeted than Facebook
There is a way to get more information.You can find out how
ads are targeted by gender, postcode and age
But to do so, you have to download a large, complex set of spreadsheets
One thing you can't find out is the crucial "key words" that parties have bought up to ensure their ads are seen when someone searches for
certain topics, even those containing rival parties' names.Google says it is "thinking hard" about the feedback it's receiving but has not
made any specific commitments."We believe that our transparency report helps provide valuable information to voters, public bodies and
researchers," said UK spokesman Elijah Lawal.He added that it had gone further than Facebook and banned searches based on people's
"interests" in certain sensitive topics, as well as paying regard to the legal protections given against profiling users for having the
traits themselves."We don't enable advertisers to target ads to citizens based on their inferred political leanings; nor do we allow ads to
be personalised to people based on sensitive information, such as their religion, sexual orientation, or membership in a trade
union."Snapchat is also running political adverts in this election and it, too, offers detailed targeting to politicians and parties
The company also has an ad library, albeit only in spreadsheet form.Earlier this month, Twitter announced it would ban outright political
advertising from 22 November
It seems already to have had an effect in the UK, as we've not yet seen advertising from any of the main political parties on the platform
It follows LinkedIn, which introduced a ban in June 2018
TikTok announced a similar measure last month.For now, all the commitments are voluntary
But some think that it's time the sector faced official scrutiny."Parliament needs to legislate to appoint or create a political-advertising
regulator and update laws relating to political advertising," said Mr Pringle."A political-content regulator could then develop a code based
on legislation, which would require oversight by Parliament."But that won't happen before this election, and it will be up to the next batch
of MPs to decide whether to make it a priority.
