EU Regulation on Political Advertising: What You Need to Know

The EU's Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising Regulation (TTPA) has been in force since 10 October 2025. The Regulation aims to make political advertising more transparent and prevent interference by external actors in elections.

The Regulation introduces new obligations for sponsors, service providers and publishers of political advertising. Media companies must, among other things, ensure that political advertisements are properly labelled, transparency notices are accessible and relevant information about political advertising is retained.

In this blog, we explain the key requirements of the Regulation, how they affect media companies and how TaikaTilaus helps manage political advertising. At the end of the article, you'll find an infographic summarising the responsibilities of the different parties involved.

How is political advertising defined?

The Regulation defines advertising as political if it is provided, prepared, or disseminated by, for or on behalf of a political actor, in return for payment or equivalent consideration, as well as advertising which purpose or effect is to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, or a legislative or regulatory process.

Political advertising refers to the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery or dissemination of a message by any means, typically in return for payment or as part of a political campaign. It covers all forms of political communication, including online activities such as coordinated posts or messages distributed through bots, provided they meet the definition of political advertising.

Political advertising does not include neutral public information campaigns by authorities or content subject to editorial responsibility, such as information on how to vote. The Regulation does not govern the views expressed in political advertisements, but rather the transparency and targeting requirements that apply to them.

Unpaid posts published on a political actor's own social media channels are also generally exempt from the Regulation's labelling and transparency requirements, provided that no paid advertising services are used to distribute them.

The European Commission's guidelines also clarify that not all advertising addressing social or societal issues automatically qualifies as political advertising. For example, corporate sustainability campaigns may fall outside the scope of the Regulation if they are not intended to influence political decision-making.

On page 26 of the European Commission's guidelines, you can find a table of guiding questions to help assess whether an advertisement qualifies as political.

Who does the Regulation apply to?

The Regulation applies to sponsors of political advertising and to providers of political advertising services.

• A sponsor is defined as “the natural or legal person at whose request or on whose behalf a political advertisement is prepared, placed, promoted, published, delivered or disseminated.”
• Providers of political advertising services are actors who offer political advertising services in return for payment or other consideration. These include, for example, advertisement producers (such as advertising agencies), publishers (such as newspapers, influencers, blogs, and billboards), as well as distributors and technology platforms (such as advertising platforms).

The Regulation does not apply to ancillary services that merely transmit or support the transmission of political advertisements without receiving payment specifically for the publication of that advertisement, and without influencing its content. For instance, internet access providers or printing houses that only deliver messages on behalf of others are not covered by the Regulation. Similarly, social media platforms are not covered if they have not received payment for the dissemination of the advertisement.

It is also important to note that the classification as political advertising depends on the content, not on who funds it. If an advertisement meets the definition of political advertising, it falls within the scope of the Regulation regardless of the nature of the organisation. Thus, for example, a charitable organisation may qualify as a provider of political advertising services if it engages in activities relating to political influence.

How does the Regulation affect political advertising?

Political advertisements must be clearly labelled and provide the following information:

• That the advertisement is political in nature.
• Who is sponsoring the advertisement.
• Which election, referendum or legislative process the advertisement relates to, where applicable.
• Where the funding comes from and how much has been spent on the advertising.
• Whether targeting or ad-delivery techniques involving the processing of personal data have been used.

An example of how to label a political advertisement. This is not a real advertisement. 

Some of this information must appear on the advertisement's label, while further details are provided in a separate transparency notice. The transparency notice must be easily accessible throughout the entire publication period of the advertisement.

The Regulation also restricts the targeting of political advertising online. Using personal data to target political advertisements requires separate, explicit consent. Sensitive personal data, such as information about health or ethnic origin, must not be used for profiling.

In the future, political advertisements published online and their accompanying transparency notices must be submitted to a central European Union repository. The European Commission launched a pilot version of the repository on 12 October 2026. Participation is voluntary during the pilot phase, and the submission requirements will only apply once the repository is officially launched.

Following the introduction of the Regulation, Google, Meta and Microsoft do not allow political advertising on their advertising platforms in the EU. Google and Meta discontinued political advertising in the EU in October 2025, while Microsoft had already prohibited political advertising before the Regulation took effect. These restrictions can also affect media companies that rely on their advertising technology for digital advertising.

What are the consequences of violating the Regulation?

Violations of the Regulation may result in sanctions for political advertising service providers, including publishers. Depending on the applicable rules, financial penalties may amount to up to 6% of the organisation's annual worldwide turnover, income or budget. Compliance is monitored by national competent authorities designated by the Member States.

Managing political advertising with TaikaTilaus

The new requirements for political advertising do not have to make advertisement management more complicated.

With TaikaTilaus, media companies can send a link directly from an advertisement booking to the advertiser, allowing them to complete the required transparency notice. Once the notice has been completed, a QR code is automatically generated and can be included in the advertisement, making the transparency information easily accessible.

All transparency notices are stored in a register maintained by TaikaTilaus. Users can also filter advertisement bookings to display only political advertisements and generate reports on political advertising.

By managing political advertisements, collecting transparency information and generating reports within a single system, media companies can reduce manual work and streamline their advertising sales processes.

Want to learn more about TaikaTilaus's political advertising management features? Get in touch with us!