The problem is not, specifically, microtargeted advertising. The problem is that political parties fight campaigns via advertising at all. It doesn’t really matter if more people buy Pepsi than Coke, or vice versa; it matters profoundly if more people vote Tory than Labour, or vice versa. We don’t really know how easily voters can be manipulated by advertisers, but in something as important as an election, we should take precautions just in case they can. I would suggest that political advertising be prohibited. Instead, every voter on the electoral register should be sent, by post and email, the manifestos of each party. The manifestos should be vetted by an independent ombudsman; they should be identically formatted as plain white booklets or PDFs, with plain black text in identical fonts; each should contain the same sections, e.g., foreign policy, education, taxation; and each party should be permitted the same number of words in each section. The only difference should be a colourful stripe on the front cover indicating the identity of the party, and the actual policies. In such a situation, we can be confident that the victor of the election has won on the basis of those policies, and not of a slick advertising campaign.
For good measure, competing politicians should not be permitted to appear on television or radio, or their photographs to be printed in newspapers, during the course of the election campaign; and opinion polls should be conducted for future reference (in order to provide evidence if charges of electoral fraud are made), but the results should not be published until after the election.
That such proposals may seem radical only indicates the unhealthy dominance of the marketing mindset in the modern world.
The problem is not, specifically, microtargeted advertising. The problem is that political parties fight campaigns via advertising at all. It doesn’t really matter if more people buy Pepsi than Coke, or vice versa; it matters profoundly if more people vote Tory than Labour, or vice versa. We don’t really know how easily voters can be manipulated by advertisers, but in something as important as an election, we should take precautions just in case they can. I would suggest that political advertising be prohibited. Instead, every voter on the electoral register should be sent, by post and email, the manifestos of each party. The manifestos should be vetted by an independent ombudsman; they should be identically formatted as plain white booklets or PDFs, with plain black text in identical fonts; each should contain the same sections, e.g., foreign policy, education, taxation; and each party should be permitted the same number of words in each section. The only difference should be a colourful stripe on the front cover indicating the identity of the party, and the actual policies. In such a situation, we can be confident that the victor of the election has won on the basis of those policies, and not of a slick advertising campaign.
For good measure, competing politicians should not be permitted to appear on television or radio, or their photographs to be printed in newspapers, during the course of the election campaign; and opinion polls should be conducted for future reference (in order to provide evidence if charges of electoral fraud are made), but the results should not be published until after the election.
That such proposals may seem radical only indicates the unhealthy dominance of the marketing mindset in the modern world.