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During the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, political parties and their affiliates spent around ₹117 crores on Google ads alone between January 1 and April 10, according to data from the Google Ads Transparency Centre. This surge in digital campaign spending highlights the growing influence of online platforms in elections, while raising concerns about content regulation and fairness among political parties.

Digital Campaigns have become a Powerful Tool in Modern Elections

• Wider Reach to Voters: Digital platforms provide an unprecedented ability to reach millions of voters, including those in rural and remote areas, ensuring that no demographic is left out of campaign outreach.
  For example: Extensive use of WhatsApp during the 2019 elections helped political parties connect with rural voters across India, significantly influencing the election outcome.
• Cost-Effectiveness: Digital campaigns are far more affordable than traditional media, allowing even small having limited budgets to compete and reach voters effectively.
  For example: Emerging regional political parties like AAP’s digital-driven strategy in the 2015 Delhi elections proved successful despite minimal spending compared to larger parties.
• Targeted Messaging: Data analytics enables parties to create tailored messages for specific voter segments, improving the chances of reaching the right audience with messages that resonate with their values and concerns.
  For example: Cambridge Analytica’s micro-targeting strategies during global elections, including Brexit, have shown how targeted digital messages can sway voter behaviour.
• Real-Time Engagement: Social media enables real-time interactions with voters, allowing political leaders to swiftly address concerns, shape public opinion, and adjust campaign strategies based on immediate feedback.
  For example: Prime Minister’s active Twitter presence has allowed him to maintain a direct and continuous dialogue with voters throughout his political career.
• Youth Engagement: Digital platforms, especially social media, resonate with younger voters who are more likely to consume political content online, ensuring effective engagement with a critical voter base.
  For example: Political parties’s Instagram strategy in the 2024 elections was specifically designed to capture the attention of younger voters.
• Transparency and Voter Education: Digital campaigns, when used responsibly, can provide greater transparency by communicating policies directly to voters, helping them make informed choices and increasing overall electoral participation.
  For example: US President’s digital town halls during the 2020 U.S. election allowed voters to directly interact with him despite pandemic restrictions.

Concerns Regarding Content Oversight and Equity

• Algorithmic Bias: Digital platforms’ algorithms often favour parties with larger budgets by giving their ads higher visibility, skewing the campaign in favour of wealthier political entities, thus reducing electoral fairness.
  For example: Google’s ad algorithms were found to favour high-budget parties during global elections, giving them an advantage in voter reach.
• Polarisation of Public Opinion: Social media platforms can amplify divisive content, leading to the polarisation of political opinions and promoting a more fragmented and hostile electoral environment, diminishing constructive debate.    
• Unfair Advantage for Larger Parties: Social media platforms can amplify divisive content, leading to increased political polarisation and a more fragmented, hostile electoral environment, which diminishes constructive debate.
  For example: National parties’s massive spending on Facebook ads in 2019 far exceeded the budgets of smaller regional parties, skewing the playing field.
• Dark Ads and Microtargeting: The use of dark ads and highly targeted political messages makes it difficult for regulators and the public to track what information is being disseminated to specific voter groups, undermining transparency.    
• Lack of Fact-Checking: Digital platforms often fail to implement sufficient fact-checking measures, allowing false claims to persist and potentially mislead voters with inaccurate or deliberately manipulated information.
  For example: WhatsApp was criticised for not adequately addressing fake news during India’s 2019 elections, which influenced voter perceptions.
• Manipulation through Data Breaches: The exploitation of voter data through breaches can allow political campaigns to manipulate voters by sending targeted messages based on personal information, compromising voter autonomy.
  For example: The Cambridge Analytica scandal exposed how voter data was used unethically to influence election outcomes worldwide, including in India.

Way Ahead

• Stronger Digital Regulations: Governments and election bodies must introduce stricter regulations to hold digital platforms accountable for misinformation and to enforce penalties for the spread of false content.    
• Transparency in Digital Spending: Political parties should be required to fully disclose their digital ad expenditures to ensure transparency and prevent unfair advantages gained through unregulated spending on online platforms.
  For example: Mandating detailed reports on digital ad spending can ensure a level playing field during elections.
• Collaborative Fact-Checking: Digital platforms should collaborate with independent fact-checkers to monitor and remove false information, ensuring that only accurate political messages reach voters.
  For example: Facebook’s existing partnership with third-party fact-checkers can be expanded to ensure comprehensive coverage of political content.
• Capping Digital Ad Expenditure: To maintain electoral equity, limits should be placed on the amount that political parties can spend on digital ads, preventing wealthier parties from overwhelming the digital space.    
• Equitable Ad Distribution: Algorithms on digital platforms should be designed to ensure that political ads from all parties receive equitable exposure, regardless of the party’s financial resources.
  For example: Platforms like Google should ensure smaller parties’ ads get visibility similar to larger ones to promote democratic fairness.
• Public Database for Political Ads: A centralised database containing all political ads running on digital platforms should be accessible to the public, ensuring transparency in messaging and preventing covert campaigns.
  For example: Google’s Ad Transparency Centre is a good start, but it needs more comprehensive data on all political ads.
• Government-Platform Collaboration: Governments and digital platforms must work together to strengthen oversight, with collaborative frameworks designed to curb the spread of harmful political content and ensure accountability.    

Digital campaigns, while transformative, require robust oversight to ensure fairness and transparency. As Abraham Lincoln emphasised, democracy should be “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Ensuring equitable access and content regulation in digital campaigns will strengthen democratic values and uphold the integrity of electoral processes in the digital age.

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