Abstract
AbstractPolitical advertising on Facebook is the latest in a long line of developments in campaign practice, and is a tool that has been mobilised extensively in elections around the world. In this article, we explore what we know about Facebook advertising at elections and ask what existing data from the UK Electoral Commission can reveal about current usage. Highlighting the principles behind Facebook advertising, we argue that existing metrics offer little insight into current campaign trends—posing analytical, methodological and normative challenges for academics and electoral regulators alike. Moreover, we argue that these challenges strike at the heart of debates about democratic responsibility and the degree to which governments should cede responsibility to commercial actors who may have differing understandings of fundamental democratic norms.
Highlights
OVER RECENT years, Facebook has gained increased attention for its role in elections
We examine the rise of Facebook advertising and, in particular, the use of micro-targeted adverts that are used to provide segmented messages to different groups online
We look at the implications of Facebook adverts for our understanding of election spending and regulation
Summary
OVER RECENT years, Facebook has gained increased attention for its role in elections. Unpicking available data from the UK, we show that we can gain only limited insight into advertising practices on Facebook based on current spending declaration requirements. Whilst useful for tracing the increased resources devoted to digital, and for noting the increased significance of platforms such as Facebook, we argue that there are important limitations in this data that have implications for our understanding of election campaigns.
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