Public Speech, Private Governance, Public Values?: Platform Policies on Political Advertising

Advertising on digital platforms is an integral part of political campaigning in many countries, and with each election cycle, consumes increasingly larger portions of campaign resources. Through their policies and affordances for paid content, platform companies act as de facto regulators of campaign speech. After data harvesting and foreign interference scandals in the late 2010s, these companies faced intense public pressure to align their political advertising policies with democratic values. This chapter examines two of the main mechanisms deployed by platform companies to respond to controversy: imprints (or disclaimers) and political advertising bans. Drawing parallels to similar measures found in electoral regulation, the chapter explores key court decisions for insights into the legitimate democratic function of such measures, trade-offs and factors that affect the balance between competing democratic values. The chapter argues that platform companies have so far failed to adapt these mechanisms to the information pathologies of their unique environments, broader social media logics and regional contexts. As a result, policies and implementations tend to be ill-suited or disproportionate to their apparent democratic objectives. With this in view, the chapter identifies areas in need of attention to strengthen the nexus between platform policies and democratic values.