Dutch political parties respond to the report that from October political advertisements in the European Union are no longer allowed on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, among others. After Google in November already announced to stop political advertisements in the EU, Meta shared Friday the same to do. All those new strict European regulationsthat information manipulation and foreign interference in elections should prevent, the tech giants cannot handle that, they said. Then no political advertisements.
That the prohibition will take effect in October is extra interesting for the Dutch political parties, because the parliamentary elections are held on October 29. But if those parties are already worried or angry, they will not show that.
‘No statements about campaign’
Some parties have not yet discussed it internally, such as Green Left PvdA. Some don’t want to say anything about it, like the VVD. “We have taken note of it,” says Benjamin van Es on behalf of that party. “We make no statements about how we campaign, but we will have to deal with it.” And some parties did not advertise the previous elections through Meta, such as NSC. “It would have been new to us anyway,” says Joachim Miedema, spokesperson for NSC. “We are now preparing ourselves and we will take this with us.”
We can continue to share opinions and videos from the Lower House on the Socials
Other parties also say they do not feel very dependent on paid advertisements on social media. “We have a strong supporters on social media and we keep active contact with that,” says Willem van den Oetelaar on behalf of the Party for the Animals. “It is not that the entire campaign will change soon. We can continue to share opinions and videos from the Lower House on the Socials. We’ll be talking about it on Monday, but I think we’ll just continue what we already did.”
“It is much more important not only to campaign during campaign time,” says BBB campaign leader Henk Vermeer. “You always have to inform your supporters about what you are doing. These rules are primarily a problem for parties that only make themselves heard one to three months before new elections.”
Already doubts about utility advertisements
Michiel Hoogeveen, campaign strategist of JA21, already had doubts about the effectiveness of advertisements on social media. “Also because they have to meet increasingly strict rules and, for example, it must be very clear advertorial Beeping up, “he says.” As a campaign team, we were of course already working on how we could address other voters populations outside of our bubble. And that is difficult. We already wanted more towards traditional advertisements on radio, TV, websites and magazines. Many people still find their news on TVs and talks in politics. Smartphones. ”
“Only large, rich political parties can pay television advertising,” says Vermeer of the BBB. He also thinks that ‘influence’, he says. “Online is sometimes searched for safety that is not there in daily life.”