Meta’s Political Ad Ban Boosts Dutch Far-Right Leader
Facebook’s block on political advertising in Europe leaves elections at the mercy of Big Tech’s algorithms.
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Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party, campaigns ahead of the 2024 European elections, in The Hague, Netherlands.
Photographer: Ksenia Kuleshova/BloombergFacebookXLinkedInEmailLinkGiftGift this articleContact us:Provide news feedback or report an errorConfidential tip?Send a tip to our reportersSite feedback:Take our SurveyNew WindowFacebookXLinkedInEmailLinkGiftBy Patrick Van OosteromOctober 21, 2025 at 4:00 AM UTCBookmarkSave
Bilal Gacha knows where to reach his voters online. Gacha is head of communications for Denk, a Dutch political party that mostly represents minority communities. He and his colleagues have typically paid to get their campaign messages into Facebook feeds, using the platform’s data to target people interested in Arabic pop music, Turkish TV dramas and couscous.
Then, on Oct. 6, Facebook’s owner Meta, pulled the plug on all political advertising across the European Union, in response to the bloc’s new transparency rules. That’s left Denk without one of its most powerful tools. “Meta created an online level playing field, which now has completely disappeared,” Gacha said.
Source: Original