Elections and Freedom of Expression

Elections in the Digital Age

Digital technologies have provoked huge changes to elections over the past few decades: Internet platforms have vastly increased the ability of voters to access and interact with information about political parties and candidates. Political parties, especially small ones, are more able than ever before to get their message out to larger audiences, spending less by using free blogs, video sharing platforms and social media.

But as is increasingly clear from recent elections, the same openness can pose serious challenges to the right of citizens to freely choose elected representatives. The use of targeted political advertising and coordinated inauthentic behaviour to disseminate misinformation have led to fears over the integrity of elections.

Many of the traditional safeguards to ensure the fairness of elections are difficult to apply online. The rules applicable to political communications during election periods, transparency of and limits on electoral spending, respect for silence periods and equal treatment of candidates, are increasingly complicated by digital technologies. It is urgent to consider whether, and how, “offline” electoral rules can be adapted to campaigns that are increasingly run online.