Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

▸6 unchanged paragraphs

Article 7 – paragraph 3: deleted

Article 7 – paragraph 4: deleted

Article 7 – paragraph 5: deleted

Article 7 – paragraph 6: deleted

Article 7 – paragraph 7: deleted

Article 7 – paragraph 8: deleted

Change 41

ChangedArticle 7 a (new): Article 7a / Transparency notices and libraries for political advertisements / 1. The transparency notice referred to in Article 7(1)7(1)(c) shall be made available by the political advertising publishers and shall include the following information: / (a) the identityidentity, andthe address or the place of establishment and contact details of the sponsorsponsor; and/ (b) where applicableapplicable, the identity of the person or entity ultimately financing or otherwise controlling the sponsor andsponsor, their address, or place of establishment and contact details; / (b)(c) the period during which the political advertisement is intended to be published and disseminated and, where applicable, the fact that the same advertisement has been disseminated in the past by the political advertising publisher;disseminated; / (c) information on(d) the aggregated amounts spent or other benefits received by the providers of political advertising services including those received by the publisher in part or full exchange for the preparation, placement, promotion, publicationpublication, delivery and dissemination of the relevant advertisement, and where relevant of the political advertising campaigncampaign, whereand relevant,the origin of the amounts and theirother sources;benefits; / (d)(e) where applicable, an indication of electionsthe elections, referendums, and legislative or referendumsregulatory processes with which the advertisement is linked; / (e) links to online advertisements libraries; / (f) information on how to use the mechanisms provided for in Article 9(1); / (g) information on whether the advertisement has been previously suspended or discontinued due to violation of this Regulation; / (h) informationwhere onapplicable, whethera thestatement advertisementto wasthe fundedeffect bythat someonethe whopolitical isadvertisement inhas repeatedbeen breachtargeted ofbased thison Regulation.the /use Theof informationpersonal todata; be/ included(i) inwhere applicable, the transparencyspecific noticegroups shallof beindividuals provided…t…

Change 42

RemovedArticle 8 – paragraph 1: 1. Political advertising publishers shall include information provided to them directly by sponsors or by providers of political advertising services on the amounts or the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for those services, including on the use of targeting and amplification techniques, aggregated by campaign, as part of their management report within the meaning of Article 19 of Directive 2013/34/EU in their annual financial statements.

AddedArticle 7 b (new): Article 7b / European repository for online political advertisements / 1. The Commission shall establish and ensure the management of a public repository for all online political advertisements. This repository shall ensure: / (a) the hosting of a database containing each online political advertisement, together with the information required under Article 7a(1) in respect of each online political advertisments for political advertising publishers that are not VLOPs or VLOSEs and that make political advertising available through an online service; / (b) that every online political advertisement, together with the information required under Article 7a(1), in respect of each online political advertisement can be publicly accessed. / A common data structure, common standards and a common application programming interface for the exchange of information with publishers, shall apply. The information shall be available in machine readable format, shall allow for multicriteria queries and shall be publicly accessible via a single portal. / 2. Political advertising publishers that are VLOPs or VLOSEs shall make in real time the information required under Article 7a(1) available in the repositories provided pursuant Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act), and publicly accessible through the European repository for online political advertisements, and shall update that information, as necessary. / 3. Where a provider of very large online platform or of very large…

RemovedArticle 8 – paragraph 2: 2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to undertakings qualifying under Article 3, paragraphs 1 to 3 of Directive 2013/34/EU.

AddedArticle 8 – paragraph 1: 1. Political advertising publishers shall include information provided to them directly by sponsors or by providers of political advertising services on the amounts or the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for those services, including on the use of targeting and ad delivery techniques, aggregated by campaign, as part of a separate note to their management report within the meaning of Article 19 of Directive 2013/34/EU.

RemovedArticle 9 – paragraph 1: 1. Where they provide political advertising services, advertising publishers shall put in place mechanisms to enable natural or legal persons to notify them, free of charge, that a particular advertisement which they have published does not comply with this Regulation.

AddedArticle 8 – paragraph 2: 2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive 2013/34/EU.

RemovedArticle 9 – paragraph 2: 2. Information on how to notify political advertisements as referred to in paragraph 1 shall be user friendly and easy to access, including from the transparency notice. Political advertising publishers shall allow the submission of the notification referred to in paragraph 1 by simple and effective electronic means of reporting.

AddedArticle 8 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Providers of political advertising services shall, in accordance with national law, regularly report on the amounts or the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for those services to the national competent authorities responsible for the auditing or supervision of political actors.

RemovedArticle 9 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Political advertising publishers shall take the necessary technical and organisational measures to ensure that notices submitted through the mechanism referred to in paragraph 1 by trusted flaggers, as defined by Article 19 of Regulation xxx [the Digital Services Act], are processed and decided upon with priority and without undue delay.

AddedArticle 9 – paragraph 1: 1. Where they provide political advertising services, advertising publishers shall put in place mechanisms to enable natural or legal persons to notify them that a particular advertisement which they have published does not comply with this Regulation.

RemovedArticle 9 – paragraph 3: 3. Political advertising publishers shall make best efforts to examine and address in a timely, diligent and objective manner the notifications received pursuant to paragraph 1.

AddedArticle 9 – paragraph 1 a (new): 1a. Those mechanisms shall be free of charge, user-friendly, and easy to access, including from the transparency notice. Where technically possible, those mechanisms shall allow notifications to be submitted by electronic means.

RemovedArticle 9 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. Political advertising publishers shall inform without undue delay the persons who made the notification and the sponsors or providers of political advertising services concerned of the effect given to the notification referred to in paragraph 1. Political advertising publishers shall provide information on the redress possibilities in respect of the advertisement to which the notification relates.

AddedArticle 9 – paragraph 2: deleted

RemovedArticle 9 – paragraph 3 b (new): 3b. In the month preceeding an election or a referendum, political advertising publishers shall process and address any notice they receive about advertisement linked to that election or referendum within 48 hours. Political advertising publishers qualifying under Article 3(1) to (3) of Directive 2013/34/EU shall make reasonable efforts to address any notification that they receive about advertisement linked to that election or referendum without undue delay.

AddedArticle 9 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. The mechanisms referred to in paragraph 1 shall facilitate the submission of precise and substantiated notifications so that political advertising publishers are able to identify the unlawfulness of the advertisements in question. To that end, advertising publishers shall take the necessary measures to enable and facilitate the submission of notifications containing all of the following elements: / (a) a substantiated explanation of the reasons why the person or entity submitting the notification alleges that the advertisement in question does not comply with this Regulation; / (b) information enabling the identification of the political advertisement; / (c) the name and email address of the individual or entity submitting the notification; / (d) a statement confirming that the person or entity submitting the notification believes in good faith that information contained therein is complete and accurate.

RemovedArticle 10 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. Competent national authorities shall have the power to request that a provider of political advertising services transmits the information referred to in Articles 6, 7 and 8. The transmitted information shall be complete, accurate and trustworthy, and provided in a clear, coherent, consolidated and intelligible format. Where technically possible, the information shall be transmitted in a machine readable format.

AddedArticle 9 – paragraph 3: 3. Political advertising publishers shall send without undue delay a confirmation of receipt of the notification to persons who submitted it. / Political advertising publishers shall examine and address the notification in timely, diligent and objective manner. / Political advertising publishers shall inform without undue delay the sponsors or providers of political advertising services concerned, of the effect given to the notification. / Political advertising publishers shall provide clear and user-friendly information on the possibilities for redress in respect of the advertisement to which the notification relates and, where applicable, on the use of automated means for the processing of notifications.

Change 43

ChangedArticle 109 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. In the month precedingpreceeding an election or a referendum, providers of political advertising servicespublishers shall provideprocess thewithout requestedundue informationdelay referredand tono inlater Articlesthan 6,48 7hours andany 8notification withinthat 48they hours.receive Providersabout ofan politicaladvertisement linked to that election or referendum. Political advertising servicespublishers qualifyingthat underare Articlemicro 3(1)and tosmall (3)enterprises within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive 2013/34/EU shall makeprocess reasonablewithout effortsundue todelay provideany thenotification requestedthat informationthey withoutreceive undueabout delay.advertisement linked to that election or referendum.

Change 44

RemovedArticle 11 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. Providers of political advertising services shall transmit the information referred to in Articles 6 and 7 to interested entities upon request and without costs.

AddedArticle 9 – paragraph 4: 4. Repetitive notifications under paragraph 1 regarding the same advertisement or advertising campaign may be responded to collectively by making use of automated tools, including by reference to an announcement on the website of the political advertising publisher concerned.

RemovedArticle 11 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1: deleted

AddedArticle 9 – paragraph 4 a (new): 4a. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 19 to supplement paragraph 1 of this Article by establishing technical specifications for the mechanism referred to in that paragraph, adapted for the audiovisual sector, printed media, online and offline advertising.

RemovedArticle 11 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1: deleted

AddedArticle 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1: Competent national authorities shall have the power to request that a provider of political advertising services transmit the information referred to in Articles 6, 7, 7a and 8. The transmitted information shall be complete, accurate and trustworthy, and shall be provided in a clear, coherent, consolidated and intelligible format. Where technically possible, the information shall be transmitted in a standardised and machine readable format.

RemovedArticle 11 – paragraph 2 – point d a (new): (da) journalists

AddedArticle 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point a: (a) a brief statement of reasons explaining the objective for which the information is requested, unless the request pursues the objective of the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offences and to the extent that the reasons for the request would jeopardise that objective;

RemovedArticle 11 – paragraph 5: 5. Where requests pursuant to paragraph 1 are manifestly unfounded, unclear or excessive, in particular because of their lack of clarity, the service provider may refuse to respond. In this case, the relevant service provider shall send a reasoned response and information on redress possibility, including under Directive (EU) 2020/1828 to the interested entity making the request.

AddedArticle 10 – paragraph 2: 2. Upon receipt of a request pursuant to paragraph 1, providers of political advertising services shall, within two working days, acknowledge receipt of that request and inform the authority of the steps taken to comply with it. The relevant service provider shall provide the requested information within eight working days.

RemovedArticle 12 – paragraph 3 – point a: (a) adopt, implement and make publicly available an internal policy describing clearly and in plain language, in particular, the use of such techniques to target individuals or amplify the content, and retain such policy for a period of five years;

AddedArticle 10 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. In the month preceding an election or a referendum, providers of political advertising services shall provide the requested information referred to in Articles 6, 7 and 8 that is under their control without undue delay and no later than 48 hours. Providers of political advertising services that are micro and small enterprises within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive 2013/34/EU shall provide the requested information without undue delay.

RemovedArticle 12 – paragraph 3 – point c: (c) provide, together with the indication that it is political advertisement, additional information necessary to allow the individual concerned to understand the logic involved and the main parameters of the technique used, and the use of third-party data and additional analytical techniques. This information shall comprise the elements set out in Annex II.

AddedArticle 11 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1: roviders of political advertising services shall transmit the information referred to in Articles 6, 7 and 7a to interested entities promptly upon request, without costs and where technically possible in a machine readable format.

RemovedArticle 12 – paragraph 4: 4. Political advertising publishers making use of targeting or amplification techniques involving the processing of personal data shall include in the transparency notice required under Article 7, additional information necessary to enable the individual concerned to understand the logic involved and the main parameters of the technique used, and the use of third-party data and additional analytical techniques. / It shall include, in particular, the following information: / (a) the specific groups of recipients targeted, including the parameters used to determine the recipients to whom the advertising is disseminated; / (b) the categories and the sources of personal data used for the targeting and amplification; / (c) the targeting and amplification goals, mechanisms and logic including the inclusion and exclusion parameters; / (d) the period of dissemination, the number of individuals to whom the advertisement is disseminated; / (e) a link to or a clear indication of where the policy referred to in paragraph 3(a) can be easily retrieved. / The information to be included in the transparency notice shall be provided using the specific data fields set out in Annex II.

AddedArticle 11 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2: deleted

AddedArticle 11 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a: (a) vetted researchers in accordance with Article 40 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act);

AddedArticle 11 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point d a (new): (da) journalists.

AddedArticle 11 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2: deleted

AddedArticle 11 – paragraph 3: 3. Following a request from an interested entity, the service provider shall make best efforts to provide the requested information or its reasoned response under paragraph 5 as soon as possible and, at the latest, within one month.

AddedArticle 11 – paragraph 5: 5. Where requests pursuant to paragraph 1 are manifestly unclear, excessive or concerning information not within the control of the service provider, the service provider may refuse to provide the requested information. In such cases, the relevant service provider shall send a reasoned response to the interested entity making the request, including information on the possibilities for redress, including those that exist under Directive (EU) 2020/1828.

AddedArticle 11 – paragraph 7: 7. Service providers shall bear the burden of demonstrating that a request is manifestly unclear, excessive or concerning information not within the control of the service provider, or that requests are repetitive and involve significant costs to process.

AddedChapter III – title: TARGETING AND AD DELIVERY OF POLITICAL ADVERTISING SERVICES

AddedArticle -12 (new): Article -12 / Prohibition of targeting and ad delivery techniques involving the processing of special categories of personal data / Targeting and ad delivery techniques that involve the processing of special categories of personal data as referred to in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and in Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 in the context of political advertising services shall be prohibited.

AddedArticle 12 – title: Specific requirements related to the processing of personal data for online targeting and ad delivery techniques

AddedArticle 12 – paragraph 1: 1. Targeting and ad delivery techniques that involve the processing of personal data that is not special categories of personal data within the meaning of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or of Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 in the context of political advertising services shall be strictly limited to the situations provided for in this Article.

AddedArticle 12 – paragraph 1 a (new): 1a. Ad delivery techniques referred to in this Article shall determine the audience within the targeted audience without further processing of personal data, by random selection only.

AddedArticle 12 – paragraph 1 b (new): 1b. Targeting and ad delivery techniques that involve the processing of personal data of persons of whom the data controller is aware with reasonable certainty that they are at least one year under the voting age established by national law shall be prohibited. Compliance with the obligations set out in this Article shall not oblige providers of online platforms to process additional personal data in order to assess whether the user of the service is a minor.

AddedArticle 12 – paragraph 1 c (new): 1c. Targeting and ad delivery techniques that involve the processing of personal data shall be restricted to personal data explicitly provided by the data subject with his or her consent as defined in Article 4(11) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 given solely for the purpose of online political advertising. / The personal data provided by the data subject by virtue of using a service or device, including provided content, shall not be considered as provided personal data and therefore shall not be used by the provider for the purpose of targeting and delivering political advertising. / The data controller shall inform when requesting consent from the data subject that his or her provided personal data may be processed solely for the purpose of presenting political advertising to the data subject. Refusing to give consent shall not be more difficult or time-consuming to the data subject than giving consent. Providers shall not request consent where the data subject exercises his or her right to object by automated means using technical specifications, in line with Article 21(5) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. In the event the data subject refuses to give his or her consent, or has withdrawn his or her consent, he or she shall be given other fair and reasonable options to access information society services. / Targeting and ad delivery techniques referred to in this paragraph shall not combine more than four categories of personal data, including the location of the data subject. / If…

AddedArticle 12 – paragraph 1 d (new): 1d. Notwithstanding paragraph 1c, 60 days immediately preceding an election or a referendum, targeting and ad delivery techniques that involve the processing of provided personal data shall be restricted to the following personal data explicitly provided by the data subject to the advertising publisher with his or her consent as defined in Article 4(11) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 given solely for the purpose of online political advertising: / (a) the languages spoken by the data subject; / (b) the location of the data subject at the level of the constituency which is applicable in the relevant election or referendum; / (c) the information that the data subject is a first voter. / Subparagraphs 2 and 3 of paragraph 1c shall apply mutatis mutandis.

AddedArticle 12 – paragraph 1 e (new): 1e. This Article shall not apply to internal communications of any political party, foundation, association or any other non-profit body, to their members and former members and to communications, such as newsletters, linked to their political activities, as long as those communications are solely based on subscription data and therefore strictly limited to their members, former members or subscribers and are based on personal data provided by them and do not involve further processing of personal data to target or otherwise further select the recipients and the messages they receive. Such forms of direct marketing fall under the scope of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Directive 2002/58/EC.

AddedArticle 12 – paragraph 2: deleted

AddedArticle 12 – paragraph 3 – introductory part: 3. When using targeting techniques in the context of political advertising services involving the processing of personal data, controllers shall, in addition to the requirements laid down in Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act), as applicable, comply with the following requirements:

AddedArticle 12 – paragraph 3 – point a: (a) adopt, implement and make publicly available an internal policy describing clearly and in plain language, in particular, the use of such techniques to target individuals, and retain such policy for a period of ten years;