Source · Select Committees · Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
Recommendation 35
35
Rejected
Mandate the Advertising Standards Authority to establish comprehensive digital advertising ecosystem guidelines for all actors.
Conclusion
To tackle the incentive behind amplified misinformation—namely, the monetisation of harmful content—there should be clear and enforceable standards for digital advertising market processes, as well as advertising content. Following our Principles 1, 3 and 5, government should ask the Advertising Standards Authority to establish comprehensive guidelines for 59 all actors within the digital advertising ecosystem and supply chain. These should be informed by the UN’s 2024 Guiding Principles for Information Integrity and developed in consultation with civil society, academics, experts, industry and policymakers. It should be designed to remove incentives for algorithmic acceleration of harmful or misleading content whilst upholding freedom of expression; ensure advertisers can avoid harmful content; and ensure transparency in technologies with public safety implications, such as digital advertising. (Recommendation, Paragraph 99)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government rejects the recommendation to ask the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to establish comprehensive guidelines for the digital advertising ecosystem. It states that setting standards for processes in the digital ecosystem falls outside the ASA's remit, instead highlighting the industry-led 'Gold Standard' scheme.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government · verbatim extract
Rejected
The Advertising Standards Authority is an industry self-regulatory body which is independent of government, although it performs some statutory functions under contract to Ofcom. Government works closely with the ASA, including through the Online Advertising Taskforce, to draw on its expertise and discuss matters related to trust and transparency in the online advertising ecosystem. The ASA’s current remit is to regulate the content of advertising to ensure it is legal, decent, honest and truthful. Targeting of advertising that is for age- restricted products, and setting standards for processes in the digital ecosystem would be outside that remit. The Gold Standard is a certification scheme run by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB UK) that seeks to improve the digital advertising landscape through the implementation of standards for buyers and sellers of digital media space. Its purpose is to create a safe and responsible ecosystem, work towards greater consumer safety online, and increase business and consumer trust in online ads. The Working Group of the Online Advertising Taskforce is concerned with promoting awareness and uptake of the Gold Standard.
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