Regulation of Political Advertising

An Coimisiún Toghcháin is the Competent Authority and National Contact Point for implementation of certain aspects of the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) Regulation in Ireland. This means An Coimisiún is responsible for ensuring that persons engaged in political advertising via the means listed below comply with their obligations under the TTPA Regulation and An Coimisiún is the point of contact in Ireland for cross jurisdictional issues and information requests external to Ireland.

Political advertising as defined in the Regulation includes advertising that takes place through the media of print, audio, audiovisual and digital display. It applies to advertising for any political actor at any time, or during an election or referendum campaign, advertising that is designed to influence the outcome of an electoral event.

The Regulation does not cover the specific nature of the content of political advertising (apart from the Transparency and Targeting aspects referenced above) so An Coimisiún has no role in dealing with any complaints as to such content in its capacity as a Competent Authority under this Regulation.

• Newspapers (online and offline)
• Posters, flyers and leaflets
• Public spaces such as billboards, bus shelters and banners
• All websites except: any platforms, broadcast media, social media or search engines (for these please contact Coimisiún na Meán)

The Regulation places specific obligations on anyone who engages in political advertising or publishes political advertising.  These obligations are contained in Articles 5 to 17 of the Regulation but are set out in summary form below.

Advertisers are obliged to specify

• That the advertisement in question is a political advertisement; and
• who paid for the advertisement, and how much was paid.

The label must show:

• That this is a political advertisement.
• The identity of the sponsor at whose request this ad is being placed.
• Where applicable, the electoral event (or referendum, legislative or regulatory process that the advertisement is related to) (a political advertisement will not always be in relation to a specific event).
• If online, a statement declaring if the ad has been subject to ad targeting or ad delivery techniques (such as where online user data has been used to deliver the ad directly).
• A transparency notice or a clear indication of where the transparency notice can be found.

The transparency notice must show:

• The identity of the sponsor, and where applicable, the entity controlling the sponsor at whose request this advertisement has been placed, along with their name, email address, postal address (if postal address is already publicly available).
• The period during which the advertisement is to be published.
• The aggregated amounts paid (or benefits) to all the providers of services who brought the advertisement to fruition (e.g. creative agencies, ad buyers, sales groups, publishers).
• Information on the origin of the amounts used to pay for the service (whether these funds are public, or private and EU or non-EU based).
• How the amounts paid (or benefits) were calculated, identified and aggregated.
• Where applicable, the electoral event (or referendum, legislative or regulatory process to which the advertisement is related).
• If linked to an electoral event, links to official information for preparation of and participation in the electoral event or referendum.
• Online ads shall be sent to and retained in a European repository; links to this should be included if applicable.
• Publishers shall make it possible for persons to notify them if an advertisement they have published does not comply with this regulation and refer to such notification process in the transparency notice.
• Where applicable, if any previous version of this advertisement was published but removed or suspended for infringement, that should be stated.
• A statement declaring if the ad has been subject to ad targeting or ad delivery techniques.
• Where applicable and technically feasible, the reach of the political advertisement in terms of the number of views and of engagements with the political advertisement.

An Coimisiún Toghcháin has no responsibility regarding the content or micro-targeting of political advertising.  Nor does An Coimisiún have responsibility for political advertising placed on broadcast media, platforms, social media or search engines.  If you have any concerns regarding content you might wish to contact the candidate(s) or party(ies) or service provider who placed the advertising.  If your concern is about micro-targeting you might wish to contact the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, and if it relates to broadcast media, platforms, social media or search engines you might wish to contact Coimisiún na Meán.