European Union: Reached Council and Parliament agreement on Regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising including content moderation obligations

On 6 November 2023, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the Regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, including content moderation regulation. The Regulation outlines transparency obligations concerning political advertising, including advertising displayed on online platforms, mobile applications, websites, games and other digital interfaces. In particular, the Regulation would require providers of political advertising services to label the content displayed on their platform as political advertising if they signed a contract with the sponsor and received remuneration. Furthermore, the providers of political advertising would be required to establish a flagging mechanism to enable users to notify them of any advertisement that does not comply with the Regulation. Finally, the Regulation would prohibit providers from displaying political advertising sponsored by third-country entities three months before an election or referendum. The Parliament and the Council have to adopt the Regulation, and it will be applicable 18 months after its entry into force.