The EU needs new rules to combat disinformation and interference in the democratic processes. One effective method to tackle this challenge would be to guarantee a level playing field between the online and offline world when it comes to the transparency of political advertising. This is why the EBU supports the EU's objectives of the upcoming regulation on political advertising.

We agree that the cornerstone of this regulation is transparency for the public to understand on whose behalf political advertisements are being displayed.  To achieve this goal, sponsors should be responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information which will be used to meet the transparency requirements. When there are changes to advertising data, it should be the sponsor's responsibility to communicate it to broadcasters so the changes can be processed accordingly. In the case that there is a mistake in the information the sponsor gave to broadcasters, the sponsor must correct it and send it to broadcasters. Sponsors are best placed to know the background around political ads, such as the entity ultimately controlling the output or their exact location.

On the contrary,  asking the broadcasters, especially small radio stations or TV channels, to ensure that the sponsor information is complete and correct is a responsibility which would be too heavy and complicated to implement. Additionally, it can be that they do not always have the capacity to access the relevant information or that information may even be concealed from them.