Good stuff - interesting data to explore.

New: The UK's new Representation of the People Bill, the Rycroft Review and the future of online political ads. open.substack.com/pub/whotarge...

New: The UK's new Representation of the People Bill, the Rycroft Review and the future of online political ads. open.substack.com/pub/whotarge...

We're collaborating with @fullfact.org on tracking ads and holding them accountable for the Scottish, Welsh + local elections in the UK next month. More on that here: fullfact.org/politics/how...

Reform has new digital ads out, running a pretty classic local elections strategy - half "eye-catching if we were in government policy", half "council tax will be lower".

The "Independent Business Network", an organisation working to "seize the opportunities Brexit provides", is targeting UK Cabinet members with Facebook ads with their calculation of the financial impact of the (their term) "Unemployment Rights Act". www.facebook.com/ads/library/...

The UK government just published the Rycroft Review into foreign interference in UK politics. The primary focus is influence through donations, but there's a short section on political advertising and campaigns (p. 45-47). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69c29f...

The Government is planning to gradually reverse a 5p cut made at the start of the war in Ukraine from September. But it has also said this change is "under review" given the current situation. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Conservatives are using the price anxiety caused by the US/Iran war to run Facebook ads claiming Labour is "about" to raise fuel duty. This isn't strictly true, and it's certainly not imminent. www.facebook.com/ads/library/...

The Conservatives are using the price anxiety caused by the US/Iran war to run Facebook ads claiming Labour is "about" to raise fuel duty. This isn't strictly true, and it's certainly not imminent. www.facebook.com/ads/library/...

Meta's political ad library reports have been broken for the last week, returning £0 spend for all advertisers since March 18th. UK election campaigns are in full swing...

Danish politicians still run ads on Meta/ Facebook. Despite the fact that it is now allowed. This is a problem. It is a bad democratic behaviour by the candidates. And it showcases how Meta's ad rules are not enforced, creating lopsided campaign dynamics. #dkpol #fv26 www.dr.dk/nyheder/poli...

Called it. Ads live now.

Called it. Ads live now.

Would be surprised if this new voter data-hoovering exercise from Reform didn't end up with a healthy digital ad budget behind it in due course. www.nigelcutmybills.com

More excellent work from @favstats.eu showing how Google's "political ad ban" in the EU is failing. www.favstats.eu/post/google_...

New Facebook ad from a Reform councillor in Basildon offering "transparent insight into what is REALLY happening inside the council". His methods for getting that insight are just a touch unusual. www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/governance/3...

Because it's an idea that comes round from time to time, we wanted to re-post some thoughts on the rationale and practicality of regulating political ad content. In short, we don't think it's a good idea (the article is from 2022 and Boris Johnson is UK PM). whotargets.me/en/should-yo...

We @thecoalition.bsky.social sued the US State Department today. The govt's Censorship Policy, which it is using to revoke and deny visas of technology researchers, students, fact-checkers and trust & safety workers, is clearly aimed at punishing those whose speech the government doesn't like.

State elections in South Australia in two weeks. Polls favour the ALP, but Pauline Hanson's One Nation have surged in the polls (though they're not spending much on digital ads). Charts + leaderboards tracking hundreds of advertisers here: trends.whotargets.me/reports/5e84...

The latest Facebook ad in the Conservatives' campaign to ban social media for under 16s says "it's worked elsewhere". (The world-first ban in Australia is just about to turn three months old and the Australian government say it will need at least two more years to evaluate it)

The SNP's latest ads ahead of May's elections argue Scotland would have lower energy bills if it became independent. Interesting moment to raise the topic...

Excellent news with very welcome u-turn by government in House of Commons this evening, pledging to restore the Electoral Commission's independence. Democracy is strengthened by having an independent regulator. (Labour had previously omitted from its legislative plans acting on this.)

Big digital ad buys were also part of the party's approach to the seats they won in 2024. Question is whether it scales to many more target seats a few years from now.

The Green Party spent between £63,000 and £84,000 on Meta ads to help them win the Denton and Gorton by-election. 113 ads in total, loads of different creatives. Estimated reach of 6-7.25m impressions. They absolutely bombarded the seat with ads.

Interesting to see the Tories using Daily Mail-style "curiosity gap" headlines in their digital ads on social media bans for under 16s (the answer to the question of who is behind the policy is "we are", and the ads direct to a petition/sign up form hosted on their website).

Lots of polling day get-out-the-vote digital ads from Labour and the Greens in Gorton and Denton. Confusing polls, bad charts, accusations, counter-accusations and unexpected endorsements all doing the rounds. Nothing from Reform or Matt Goodwin.

A new Labour Party Facebook ad attacks Nigel Farage for wanting to give tax breaks to foreign billionaires "paid for by pushing children into poverty" (i.e. the reinstatement of the two-child benefit cap). www.facebook.com/ads/library/...

Robert Jenrick has launched his first digital ads since jumping to Reform UK. The message? Don’t worry about Reform's ability to handle the UK economy. Same (for him) walk'n'talk delivery - new party, same style, familiar script. www.facebook.com/ads/library/...

The new Representation of the People Bill ignores digital campaigning entirely. In that absence, here are some policy ideas for better regulation of political ads in the UK. They'd lead to more transparency, trustworthiness, competition and fairness. whotargets.me/en/better-re...

Notable that with only a few full days of campaigning left, Matt Goodwin currently has no active ads in Gorton and Denton (and nor do Reform). His two main rivals both still have ads running.

The Greens are running a new Urdu language ad in Gorton and Denton linking Labour with Netanyahu and Modi and the destruction in Palestine, and Matt Goodwin with Steve Bannon and Trump (via Nigel Farage) and support for ICE-style deportations. Full ad: www.facebook.com/ads/library/...

New Reform digital ad: "Does Labour have a paedophile problem? Yes. Click here if you agree." www.facebook.com/ads/library/...

The new Representation of the People Bill ignores digital campaigning entirely. In that absence, here are some policy ideas for better regulation of political ads in the UK. They'd lead to more transparency, trustworthiness, competition and fairness. whotargets.me/en/better-re...

A new Labour ad in Gorton describes a vote for the Greens as a "vote for the Tommy Robinson endorsed candidate". Robinson did tell X followers to vote for Goodwin (though Reform has said they don't want him in the party). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

A new Matt Goodwin ad in Gorton and Denton says the Greens are in favour of "legalised drugs and open borders" and that you can "google it to check what I'm saying is true". Full ad here: www.facebook.com/ads/library/...

We were pleased to support EU Election Observers with analysing online political ad activity in Bangladesh in the lead up to last week's elections. Our tools tracked nearly 800 accounts from across the political spectrum. The full dashboard is here: trends.whotargets.me/reports/8960...

A new account "American Sovereignty" has spent nearly $200k on pro-ICE Meta ads in Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan (key Senate races this fall). They also bought Superbowl and billboard ads in recent weeks. Almost nothing is known about who's behind the ads.

There are real trade-offs involved in deciding how best to handle political advertising, but Meta and Google's "ban" on political advertising is unjustified and favours bad people. Worst of all, it doesn't even work, as Hungarian independent media has shown. lakmusz.hu/2026/02/10/d...

Meta and Google pulling out of political ads in the EU has made it harder for the Hungarian opposition to be heard. The platforms are a long way from perfect, but they're not Orban government owned or controlled in the way much of the rest of Hungarian media is.

Meta and Google pulling out of political ads in the EU has made it harder for the Hungarian opposition to be heard. The platforms are a long way from perfect, but they're not Orban government owned or controlled in the way much of the rest of Hungarian media is.

A first look at the UK's new proposed elections legislation ("The Representation of the People Bill") shows it lacks provisions to deal with the way campaigns have changed in the digital age. That's really disappointing. publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbi...

OpenAI/ChatGPT is launching ads in the US. Looks like it'll work similarly to search ads for now. The say no ads next to "sensitive" topics (including politics), but that's not quite the same as "no political ads". We'll see. openai.com/index/testin...

Labour digital ad targeting Gorton and Denton (released this evening).

New Meta ad from Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar this evening (not sure when it was filmed).

Interesting new ad account + ads from Labour, leaning on a fact check from @fullfact.org to dispute claims being made in Green Party ads in Gorton and Denton.

Political ad spending on Meta in Scotland over the last month. Labour dominant, SNP next, Reform basically non-existent. trends.whotargets.me/reports/fb9d...

Follow @wtmadupdates.bsky.social for all the main new digital ads run by parties and leaders ahead of May's elections in the UK.

More bar chart action.

Follow @wtmadupdates.bsky.social for near-live notifications of new Meta and Google ads from the major UK political accounts. Adding more to the bot over time...