IPA Calls for Online Political Ad Targeting Moratorium

In the UK, the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) has called for a moratorium on micro-targeted political online ads, in the wake of the allegations surrounding Cambridge Analytica.

The data firm is accused of harvesting personal information from more than 50 million Facebook profiles without permission, to build a system that could be used to target voters with personalised political ads based on their psychological profile. The IPA deems a moratorium is necessary because of the absence of self-regulation on political advertising, which it believes can render political ads unaccountable. The IPA will also be calling for all political advertising creative work to be listed for public display, to ensure that messaging - while not regulated - is transparent and accountable.

Explaining the purpose of the moratorium, IPA President Sarah Golding (pictured) said: 'Politics relies on the public square - on open, collective debate. We, however, believe micro-targeted political ads circumvent this. Very small numbers of voters can be targeted with specific messages that exist online only briefly. In the absence of regulation, we believe this almost hidden form of political communication is vulnerable to abuse'.

Web site: www.ipa.co.uk .