Sulberg ruled: Transparency obligation in election propaganda also applies to social media influencers

Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Sulberg, ruled that the transparency obligation in election propaganda applies to social media influencers, but dismissed the petition against Likud and NVP due to insufficient evidentiary basis. The Movement for Freedom of Information was ordered to pay costs.

Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Sulberg, ruled that the transparency obligation in election propaganda also applies to social media influencers, but dismissed the specific petition filed by the Movement for Freedom of Information against the Likud party and the production company NVP. Sulberg accepted the petitioner's principled position, noting that publications by social media influencers may be considered election ads if they meet legal requirements, and that the transparency obligation applies to them. He clarified that parties cannot bypass the disclosure requirement through a chain of intermediaries between the commissioning party and the advertiser. However, Sulberg dismissed the petition on its merits, after determining that the movement did not present sufficient evidentiary basis to prove the claim that the content was produced at NVP studios or that there was a connection between the company and the publications. Sulberg warned of the evidentiary difficulty in proving covert propaganda on social networks and raised the need for a rethinking of enforcement methods. The Movement for Freedom of Information was ordered to pay court costs of 7,500 shekels.