Help & legal

For political advertising within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2024/900. This is a message that is normally prepared, placed, promoted, published, delivered or disseminated for remuneration, through in-house activities or as part of a political advertising campaign, either

(a) by, for or on behalf of a political actor, for example a party, a candidate, a member of parliament or a member of a government, unless it is of a purely private or purely commercial nature, or

(b) if it is liable and designed to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, voting behaviour or a legislative or regulatory process (Art. 3, point 2).

The rules apply to all media, so to online ads as well as to posters, flyers and other advertising materials. These do not include, among other things, official messages that relate exclusively to the organisation of and participation in elections or referendums, public information provided by authorities as long as it is not intended to influence the outcome, and the free presentation of candidates provided for by law. If in doubt, have a lawyer check the classification.

The label is the notice you place on the ad. It must be clear, salient and unambiguous and remain clearly visible even when the ad is further disseminated (Art. 11).

It always contains: 1. a statement that it is a political ad, 2. the name of the sponsor and 3. an indication of where the transparency notice can be retrieved (link or QR code). Depending on the case, the following are added: 4. the entity ultimately controlling the sponsor, 5. the election, referendum or legislative or regulatory process the ad is linked to, and 6. a statement that targeting or ad-delivery techniques based on personal data were used.

The label images of this tool contain this information, as far as you entered it in the form, and the QR code for the transparency notice.

You are the sponsor if the ad is created, placed or disseminated in your name or on your behalf, so usually your party or organisation. In the form, the sponsor is also called “commissioning party”. As the sponsor, you provide the information completely and correctly, report changes promptly and are liable for the accuracy of your information (Art. 7). If someone else pays for the ad or the sponsor is controlled by another entity, the form has separate fields for this.

The political advertising publisher is whoever publishes, delivers or disseminates the ad, for example a publishing house or an online platform (Art. 3, point 13). The publisher must ensure that the label and the transparency notice are complete (Art. 11 and 12), keep the notice (Art. 12(4)), place online ads in the European repository (Art. 13) and offer a reporting mechanism (Art. 15). If you publish your ad yourself, the publisher can also be your own party or organisation.

It is best to set out the roles in writing with your agency, printer or platform (Art. 6(2)). If in doubt, ask your legal adviser.

The abbreviation stands for “verantwortlich im Sinne des Presserechts” (responsible under press law). It refers to the person who is responsible for the content of the ad. In the form, you enter their name and address (mandatory field). Both appear on the label images and in the label text and can therefore be retrieved publicly on the notice page. This information comes from German law, not from the EU Regulation.

Targeting means that an ad is directed, using personal data, only at certain people or groups, or that certain people or groups are excluded from it, for example by age, place of residence or interests (Art. 3, point 11). In addition there are ad-delivery techniques: automated optimisations based on personal data that increase reach or visibility and can result in the ad being shown only to certain people or groups (Art. 3, point 12).

If either of the two was used, tick “Yes” on the targeting question in the form. The form then asks for the additional information (Art. 12(1), point (l), and Art. 19) and a confirmation under Art. 18.

Targeting online is only allowed under strict conditions: the data must have been collected from the data subjects themselves, they must have given explicit consent, separately for political advertising, and no special categories of personal data (for example on health or religion) may be used for profiling (Art. 18(1)). It is also prohibited for persons who are known with reasonable certainty to be at least one year under the voting age (Art. 18(2)). This tool does not check whether your targeting is permitted. If in doubt, clarify this with your legal adviser or your data protection officer.

As long as the ad is published, the notice must be easy to find and up to date (Art. 12(3)). After that, the political advertising publisher must keep it, together with all changes, for seven years after the ad was last published (Art. 12(4)). In the test environment we cannot give any guarantee for this.

That depends on where the ad appears. The obligation falls on the political advertising publisher, that is, the body that publishes, delivers or disseminates the ad on the internet. Very large online platforms and very large online search engines place political ads in their own ad repository and enable access via the European repository (Art. 13(2)). Other publishers must place the ad and the information under Art. 12(1) in the European repository no later than 72 hours after its first publication (Art. 13(4)). If you publish your ad online yourself, this obligation can therefore also lie with you.

The European repository is established by the European Commission (Art. 13(1)). The form has an optional field for the repository link. It appears in the notice if you enter it, and it can only be entered once the ad is in the repository. In the test environment, this tool does not place ads in the repository. If in doubt, have a lawyer clarify who is responsible in your case.