Twitter releases political ad checking tool in EU on March 11

Twitter will make its tool for mapping politically oriented ads available in the EU from 11 March. With the tool, anyone can see which ads are intended to influence voting behaviour, who is behind it and more.

The information is made available in the Ads Transparency Center. There everyone can see who has purchased an advertisement, how much has been paid for it, who the advertisement is aimed at and whether the candidate being promoted has given the green light for the advertisement. Twitter writes that interested parties themselves do not need a Twitter account to visit the Ads Transparency Center.

Until now, the ATC was only functional when it came to advertisements about American elections. The elections to the European Parliament will take place from May 23, which makes it important for Twitter that the system works before that time. In addition, the system will go online for Australia and India; they also have elections on the agenda this year.

The Ads Transparency Center is since June of last year active in the American democratic process. That year included the American midterm elections, in which Americans elected members of the House of Representatives and part of the Senate.