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Let’s see what some of 2019’s biggest political advertisers in the UK are up to these days...
Here’s the website of Britain’s Future, who spent £434,721 on Facebook ads in 2019 to promote a hard Brexit.
Here’s We Are The 52%, who spent £52,273 on the same issue.
Save Brexit, who spent £43,642 is now just a cookie notice and a redirect to a Kanto URL.
The Campaign Against Corbynism keeps on rolling, after spending £50k on ads during the election campaign (but nothing before and less than £1k since).
Still no idea who they are. https://www.againstcorbynism.com/about
City Action spent £40,534 on ‘pro-business' ads during the 2019 election campaign.
No posts since December 11th.
They’re now a GoDaddy holding page and a dead Gmail address.
No posts since December 11th.
They’re now a GoDaddy holding page and a dead Gmail address.
'Capitalist Worker’ spent £37,790 between being set up on November 4th 2019 and December 12th.
A couple of cursory posts since, but it doesn’t really exist any more.
They even managed to get most of their ads taken down.
A couple of cursory posts since, but it doesn’t really exist any more.
They even managed to get most of their ads taken down.
Parents’ Choice spent £43,835 attacking Labour’s education policies, then disappeared.
It’s now just a privacy notice.
(Richard Tracey, the named data controller is a former Conservative MP and was formerly then-London-Mayor Boris Johnson’s “Ambassador for the River”).
It’s now just a privacy notice.
(Richard Tracey, the named data controller is a former Conservative MP and was formerly then-London-Mayor Boris Johnson’s “Ambassador for the River”).
These campaigns existed for a few months at most.
They never said where the money came from. They never built trust about who they were. There was no meaningful public face to hold to account.
They were a loophole posing as legitimate campaign activity.
They never said where the money came from. They never built trust about who they were. There was no meaningful public face to hold to account.
They were a loophole posing as legitimate campaign activity.
The loopholes need to be closed by:
- Strong verification of advertisers
- Political advertisers should “earn the right” to target voters
- Even more transparency
- Polling day should be ‘quiet’ - free of all but “go and vote” ads.
10 ideas to sort it: https://medium.com/@WhoTargetsMe/ten-simple-ideas-to-regulate-online-political-advertising-in-the-uk-52764b2df168
- Strong verification of advertisers
- Political advertisers should “earn the right” to target voters
- Even more transparency
- Polling day should be ‘quiet’ - free of all but “go and vote” ads.
10 ideas to sort it: https://medium.com/@WhoTargetsMe/ten-simple-ideas-to-regulate-online-political-advertising-in-the-uk-52764b2df168
If you’re new to our work, we have a browser extension that tells you who’s targeting your feed with political ads and a few other useful things too: https://whotargets.me/en/projects/
Forgot about the Fair Tax Campaign, linked to a former aide of Boris Johnson (and other similar efforts).
Started in October, disappeared after the election without even a ‘we did it!'
Spent £63,105 despite having no donation button on their site. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/05/ex-johnson-aide-behind-banned-brexit-facebook-ad-worked-on-fake-grassroots-campaign
Started in October, disappeared after the election without even a ‘we did it!'
Spent £63,105 despite having no donation button on their site. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/05/ex-johnson-aide-behind-banned-brexit-facebook-ad-worked-on-fake-grassroots-campaign
A few people have asked if we saw similar activity from the other side of the political spectrum.
Not really.
Most of the Labour-supporting or pro-Remain orgs were either established well before the election, or were pretty clear about who they were.
Not really.
Most of the Labour-supporting or pro-Remain orgs were either established well before the election, or were pretty clear about who they were.
We thought we might have found one in Vote for a Final Say (founded in November, spent £87,498).
After all, their website’s dead too.
But look at their posts and Google them and you see that they were backed by two former Prime Ministers and a host of other well-knowns.
After all, their website’s dead too.
But look at their posts and Google them and you see that they were backed by two former Prime Ministers and a host of other well-knowns.
We, along with other radical campaign organisations such as *checks notes*, The Electoral Commission, The House of Lords Committee on Democracy and Digital Tech, parliament's DCMS committee, ICO and many others look forward to long overdue reform.
