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AUDIT OFFICE: POLITICAL ADS IN CONVENTIONAL MEDIA TRANSPARENT

 

The transparency and accountability of political advertisements has improved in conventional media thanks to several amendments to regulations since 2010, the State Audit Office said on its website. At the same time, the State Audit Office noted in its report that the placing of political advertisements has increasingly shifted to social media in recent years. The campaign tools used on such sites are not detailed in the election law, which makes it necessary to find ways to strengthen transparency and accountability in this area, too, it added. Several irregularities were revealed in the accountability of spending on political advertisement during the 2014 parliamentary election campaign but such errors were not found during the 2018 parliamentary election campaign, the audit office said. The media market has become more transparent thanks to specific regulations on political advertising and the activities of the audit office, the statement said. The office added, however, that legislators have so far not demonstrated a commitment to regulate content that could be characterised as political advertising on social media.