Series of articles on Regulation 2024/900 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising (TTPW)
Regulation 2024/900 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising (TTPW) has been in force since 10 October 2025. Through the TTPW, the European legislator aims to prevent the dishonest influencing of political decisions. The rationale behind the TTPW is undoubtedly an important one: political advertising interferes with legislative processes and electoral decisions. Where this involves disinformation, it can be highly problematic. However, the TTPW goes further and places political advertising as such under general suspicion. This regulatory flaw must always be borne in mind when applying the TTPW.
The provisions of the TTPW are complex. This is likely one of the reasons why the Commission has published guidance on the implementation of the TTPW. Similar to other European regulatory frameworks, the TTPW also provides for sanctions which apply in addition to other sanction regimes, in particular those of the GDPR.
The national data protection supervisory authorities are responsible for enforcing the TTPW. Presumably due to its proximity to ‘political Berlin’, the Data Protection Conference has agreed that, in Germany, the Berlin supervisory authority will take the lead in dealing with the TTPW. The first proceedings are already underway, including those in which we are involved.
In this series of articles, we will present selected legal issues relating to the TTPW and provide initial answers to the numerous legal questions arising from the application of the Regulation.
Part 3: Political advertising in social and audiovisual media
In the first two articles of our series on the TTPW, we examined the scope and target audience of the TTPW, as well as the regulation’s relevance to data protection law. Part three will focus on political advertising on social media and in audiovisual media, i.e. on television or via video-sharing platforms and streaming services.
The provisions contained in the TTPW on this subject aim to make paid or targeted political messages recognisable so that recipients can make informed democratic decisions. For communications teams, this means: classifying campaigns at an early stage, checking labelling and targeting, and documenting processes. But let’s take it step by step:
Recap: How do I recognise political advertising?
Political advertising is deemed to exist, in particular, when it originates from a political actor or is disseminated in return for payment or some other form of consideration, and is suitable for and designed to influence elections, referendums, voting behaviour or legislative and regulatory processes.
Whether a message constitutes political advertising requires a case-by-case assessment. Various indicators must be taken into account here. These include, for example, the content, any sponsors, the language used, the target audience, the context, the timing or the distribution channel of the message in question. Often, it is only by taking a holistic view of several aspects that it can be determined whether political advertising, in the legal sense, is present.
Are opinion posts or criticism of proposed legislation political advertising?
No, not automatically. Editorially responsible content and personal expressions of opinion – including criticism – are generally exempt. However, payment is likely to result in an opinion post losing its character as an expression of opinion. Thus, even an expression of opinion on social media or in a video podcast can become political advertising. For influencers who earn a living through their online presence, this is entirely conceivable. The same applies to posts by companies criticising a proposed law. Drawing the line between freedom of expression and regulated election advertising is difficult on a case-by-case basis. We described the details in Part 1 of this series of articles.
Applicability to social and audiovisual media
The aforementioned criteria must also be used to assess whether a message on social or audiovisual media constitutes political advertising. A post or a podcast episode typically contains one or even several messages of different kinds. Here, too, it is not possible to make a universally valid statement regarding their potential political nature. However, a few generalisations do present themselves:
For example, a paid Instagram video by a political party is a clear case of political advertising. However, a paid campaign by a company in favour of or against a specific legislative proposal may also fall within this scope. The same is likely to apply to influencers who actively ‘campaign’ for a political party or a specific legislative proposal and usually receive remuneration for doing so.
Simply reposting an ad that has already been labelled does not automatically constitute new political advertising or even a political advertising service subject to the specific requirements of the TTPW. However, the same applies here: the individual case is decisive. It is not inconceivable that reposting could be regarded as political advertising in its own right (subject to labelling requirements). In particular, this assessment may apply if a political actor appropriates a third-party post through paid reach boosting or sampling, or if this appropriation of the content gives it a political character in the first place due to the actor’s own reach and other posts. It will take some time before clear standards have emerged in this area.
The same challenges arise in the case of an interview or other format within the context of a podcast. Anyone who distributes a podcast assumes editorial responsibility for its content. The mere fact that the content is political should not, in itself, be sufficient to conclude that it constitutes political advertising. However, this may be the case, for example, if the podcast is classified as ‘professional’. Thus, a podcast that is funded specifically through its content or the guests it invites, and in which a political candidate is interviewed, may constitute political advertising subject to labelling requirements.
Obligation to label
If a message is classified as political advertising within the meaning of the TTPW, this entails, in addition to the data protection obligations set out in Part 2 of this series of articles, the labelling requirement stipulated in Article 11 of the TTPW, amongst other things. If a message constitutes political advertising, it must be labelled as such. The standards already familiar from fair trading law apply here accordingly: a post on LinkedIn, Instagram, etc., a tweet or similar must be accompanied by the notice ‘political advertising’. In a video podcast, this notice may be displayed on screen; in an audio podcast, it may be incorporated into the conversation. If an entire episode is to be classified as political advertising, it is advisable to make this clear at the beginning or to be unambiguous in the wording of the episode title.
The scope of the information to be provided as part of the labelling is set out in Article 11(1) of the TTPW. According to this, it must be stated
- that the content constitutes political advertising,
- who the content originates from or is intended by,
- what the political advertising relates to,
- how the political advertising is disseminated (where targeting measures are used) and
- where the mandatory (more detailed) transparency notice can be found.
The notice must be tailored to the specific advert. It could, for example, read as follows:
*POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT*
This content is a political advert relating to the legislative process for the Political Advertising Transparency Act. The party responsible for this advert is […]. [Targeting methods are also used to display this advert.] Further information on this advert is available at webseite.de/politische-werbung
The European Commission has published its own template in its guidance.
Conclusion
Article 11 of the TTPW makes it clear that, in future, political advertising will no longer be regarded solely as communication content, but also as a process subject to regulatory transparency. The recipients of the message should be able to recognise who is behind a political message, what political purpose it serves and under what conditions it is disseminated. The practical significance of the provision thus goes beyond a mere labelling requirement. Article 11 of the TTPW enhances the traceability of political communication, facilitates monitoring by the authorities and helps to make manipulative or covert influence more difficult. At the same time, implementation poses considerable organisational and technical challenges for the providers concerned, particularly with regard to the collection, updating and presentation of the required information.
Part 4 of this series of articles will follow next week.