New analysis of Cyprus’s 2026 parliamentary election highlights serious weaknesses in the EU's regulatory framework for political advertising, exposing loopholes that allow banned ads to continue circulating on platforms like Meta and TikTok despite official prohibitions.
- Platforms repeatedly sold political ads despite announced bans in the EU.
- Anonymous campaigns spread false polling claims days before voting day.
- Enforcement inconsistencies leave elections vulnerable to manipulation.
What happened
Research conducted by the Mediterranean Digital Media Observatory on Cyprus’s 2026 parliamentary election found that major technology companies, including Meta and TikTok, sold political advertisements to candidates and anonymous third parties despite announcing bans on such activities under new EU regulations. These platforms allowed thousands of political ads to run in the weeks leading up to the elections, some originating from the candidates’ own accounts.
The investigators detected five anonymous ad campaigns that circulated false claims about opinion polls immediately prior to polling day, violating Cypriot electoral law. Their findings expose gaps in the enforcement of the EU Digital Services Act and the Transparency and Targeting of Political Ads regulation (TTPA), which aim to increase transparency around political advertising and restrict misleading content.
Why it matters
The research raises significant concerns that the current regulatory framework and platform enforcement mechanisms are insufficient to prevent manipulation of EU elections through targeted political advertisements. The findings indicate that opaque political ads continue to influence voters, undermining democratic integrity and public trust.
This is especially critical as important elections loom in France, Spain, Italy, and Poland. The ability of foreign actors or unscrupulous domestic groups to exploit these vulnerabilities could distort election outcomes, spreading disinformation and anonymously influencing public opinion under the cover of social media platforms.
What to watch next
Close attention should be paid to how platforms improve their political ad verification mechanisms going forward, particularly the discrepancies observed between Meta’s weaker content-based enforcement and Google’s stricter account-level verification. Policymakers and regulators may need to push for more robust monitoring and clearer responsibility assignments to platforms for compliance enforcement.
Additionally, upcoming legislative sessions and electoral cycles in major EU member states will test whether lessons from Cyprus’s election lead to strengthening the Digital Services Act and the TTPA, ensuring that political advertising in Europe adheres to transparency requirements and is not exploited by foreign actors or dishonest campaigns.