Together with 17 civil society organisations, we signed a joint appeal urging Google and Meta to uphold their responsibility to protect public debate and fair elections. The letter, initiated by the pan-European human rights organisation The Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties), was sent in response to the announcement that once the EU’s new Regulation on the Targeting and Transparency of Political Advertising (TTPA) enters into force in October 2025, Google and Meta will no longer publish ads in Europe related to political, electoral, or likely even so-called “social” issues.

This does not, however, release them from their obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA) or their broader responsibility to safeguard civic discourse. The timing is no coincidence: both companies argue that the new standards are too complex or risky to comply with.

While Google and Meta present their decision as a step to ensure compliance, the real-world consequences are clear:

• Civil society organisations will face new barriers to having their voices heard;
• Polarisation will deepen;
• Google and Meta will fail to fulfil their duties to uphold civic discourse and election integrity as required by the DSA.

In the letter, we call on Google and Meta to:

• be transparent about how their algorithms influence political content and what measures they take to reduce bias and polarisation,
• reconsider their blanket ban on political advertising, and
• ensure that NGOs can continue legitimate public information campaigns.

We also strongly urge them to re-engage with EU institutions, civil society, and researchers to ensure their services comply with both the DSA and the TTPA. The EU’s new framework can only succeed if major platforms participate in good faith. Walking away is not an option if we aim to safeguard democratic debate online.

Read the full news story and the complete appeal on the Liberties website.