There was a lack of consistency how different social media companies presented data about political advertising online during the recent European elections, according to a new report.
Elect Check 2019, which was commissioned by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), looks at political advertising on Google, Facebook and Twitter ahead of the vote in May of this year.
It says the three digital platforms engaged with their commitments to support electoral transparency.
However, BAI chief executive Michael O'Keeffe said the companies have room for improvement.
He explained: "Some of them didn't address or label the issue-based advertising - that's an example of things that are happening.
"But I think as a first step it gave a good sense that the platforms are taking responsibility.
"A lot more needs to happen - both from [the companies'] end, but also from a Government and national end as to how this will be regulated."
The Elect Check study was carried out by DCU's Institute for Future Media and Journalism (FuJo).
It looked at more than 1,500 ads included in ad libraries and datasets provided by the social media companies.
The team looked at whether certain details were present in the data - such as who paid for the ad, or any information on whether it was 'micro-targeted' at a specific audience.
Researchers found it was not possible to settle on a "clear, fully comprehensive" picture of the nature and scale of the ads due to inconsistencies in the datasets.
According to FuJo, issue-based adverts – i.e. ads focused on campaigning issues such as immigration and the environment, rather than for specific election candidates or parties – were only labelled by Facebook.
Both Twitter and Google, in comparison, failed to identify such issue-based ads in their datasets.
FuJo director, Jane Suiter, said the lack of transparency "presents significant risks and challenges and could potentially undermine the integrity of the electoral process".
She said her group has made a number of recommendations to the Government, including the establishment of a permanent electoral commission and a searchable database of online political ads.
