G20 digital advertising policy brief by DCU researcher and collaborators referenced in leaders’ statement

The main objective of the brief is to recommend transparency mechanisms, parameters and means of accessing data from digital platforms for use in global and local contexts. The recommendations are based on a comparative analysis of public documentation and terms of use from major online platforms and case studies from four different regions: Brazil, USA, Ireland and Thailand.

One of the problems identified in the study cited in the report concerns political advertising. The comparative analysis showed that there are differences in what is considered political between different online platforms. In the absence of a legally binding regulatory framework, the definition of what defines a political issue is delegated to private social media corporations and, in many cases, to advertisers themselves, leading to frequent mistakes – either through negligence advertisers and/or lack of well-defined criteria.

The other issues identified were a lack of transparency in microtargeting practices, a lack of consistency in tools and policies across regions, and a lack of insight and control over who is placing digital ads.

The team behind the brief brings together researchers from the Federal University of Rio De Janeiro, social media campaign group Sleeping Giants, Clemson University and Chulalongkorn University.

The most recent G20 Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro on November 18 and 19.