The government on Thursday launched a public consultation on legislation relating to transparency in political advertising, with members of the public able to provide feedback until July 25.

The consultation can be accessed on the ‘e-consultation platform here.

The interior ministry said the proposed legislation is intended to harmonise Cypriot law with EU law on the transparency and targeting of political advertising.

“The aim is to boost transparency, safeguard democracy and promote responsible use of personal data in political campaigning,” the ministry explained.

“Political advertising must feature transparent labelling and provide basic information, such as the sponsor, the monetary amount spent, the connection with elections or referendums, and the use of targeting techniques.”

The preamble to the relevant EU Regulation states that “it is not always easy for citizens to recognise political advertisements and exercise their democratic rights in an informed manner.

“Political advertising can be a vector of disinformation, in particular where the advertising does not disclose its political nature, comes from sponsors outside of the Union or is subject to targeting techniques or ad-delivery techniques. A high level of transparency is necessary inter alia to support open and fair political debate and political campaigns, and free and fair elections or referendums, and to counter information manipulation and interference, as well as unlawful interference, including from third countries.”