Em TSE hearing chaired by Minister Carmen Lúcia on the court's resolutions that will rule the 2024 electoral election, the Executive Director of the Instituto Democracia em Xeque, Dr. Fabiano Garrido, warned of the risk posed by the lack of transparency on the part of Social Media Platforms, notably Google and Meta, in the management of sponsored ads during election periods.
The expert showed, based on data made available by the TSE, that the amounts invested in this type of advertising, popularly known as "boosting," during the 2022 elections, totaled 375 million reais, with 250 million coming from the electoral fund and the difference coming from individual resources, such as campaign donations.
Garrido also emphasized that these figures refer exclusively to spending during the election period, not considering resources spent in the pre-campaign period, data for which is unavailable, further increasing the amounts invested in this type of electoral advertising. Garrido also points out that Google and Meta are the beneficiaries, in almost equal shares, of more than two-thirds of the total amount of 375 million spent on promoting electoral content. The expert also notes that this figure is expected to grow even further in the 2024 election cycle.
Faced with this situation, Garrido warns of the urgent need for appropriate transparency and publicity regarding expenditures, as these expenditures utilize public resources for electoral purposes. However, these data are treated with opacity by the platforms, which maintain provisional and insufficient "ad libraries," failing to provide, for example, the distribution of expenditures and postings at the municipal level, just on the eve of municipal elections.
Finally, the expert also highlights the complexity of the issue at a time when the advent of generative Artificial Intelligence could further amplify the risks of electoral disinformation. In this case, Garrido points out: ideally, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) would adopt a specific resolution on AI, consulting experts and civil society.
Image: Largest Boosting Suppliers
of paid content in the 2022 elections.
Data source: https://sig.tse.jus.br/ords/dwapr/r/seai/
sig-prestacao-contas/tipo-de-despesa?session=12591014259502
