Change is urgently needed after this dire Pinocchio election

The public has had a cloud of deceit thrown at them. It’s time to regulate political advertising. But the social media giants must also face up to their own responsibilities, writes James Moore

Sunday 15 December 2019 14:34 GMT
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Reform must follow the Pinocchio election
Reform must follow the Pinocchio election

You could call the 2019 general election the Pinocchio campaign (note to Boris Johnson’s dad Stanley – this council-house kid can spell that) such was the level of misinformation and deceit that was spread.

Much of it was delivered through advertising. Last week, the Coalition for Reform in Political Advertising branded the ads the nation was (mis)treated to as “indecent, dishonest and untruthful” in a report entitled How Political Advertising in the 2019 General Election Let Us Down.

The non-partisan organisation – one of the more worthy recipients of crowdfunding that I’ve seen – highlighted ads from the Tories, Labour, the Lib Dems and the Brexit Party, while providing an explanation for why each example was problematic.

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