Struggling Over Political Advertising: Eu Regulation And Platform Policies In The Global Information Disorder

The article analyses the conflict surrounding the EU’s regulation of digital platforms, focusing in particular on the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising Regulation within the broader framework of the European Democracy Shield. The new EU rules on online advertising have opened a controversy over what can be defined as political content, with far-reaching implications not only for advertisers but also for political parties and civil society organisations. The study examines how the EU justifies regulatory intervention through the concepts of election integrity and information integrity and how large digital platforms justify their withdrawal from political advertising. Drawing on document analysis and qualitative interviews with representatives of civil society organisations, the article explores how the decision by Meta and Google to suspend political and social issue advertising, rather than adapt to the new regulatory framework, has triggered a controversy over the definition of political communication in the digital public sphere. The findings highlight unintended consequences of EU regulation for democratic pluralism, transparency, and freedom of expression. The controversy reveals a normative divide regarding the governance of digital political communication, which can be interpreted as a value cleavage between competing visions of democracy.