New findings from the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) highlight how political advertisers in Bulgaria are changing with the tide and learning to embrace social media to target voters. Meanwhile, Bulgarian regulators are struggling to keep apace in the digital age, leaving political parties to advertise on social media outside of national campaign rules with relative impunity.
A Fractured Political Landscape in 2024
The snap simultaneous parliamentary and European election campaigns in Bulgaria in 2024 were dominated by domestic scandals, with some background discussions about recent anti-corruption reforms, Bulgaria's stance on the war in Ukraine, and further EU integration. The far-right Vazrazhdane party gained new supporters, while the socialist party lost significant ground. Recent corruption scandals fuelled voter disillusionment and apathy, which caused historic low voter turnout.
Facebook and the Spread of Misinformation
One of the major challenges Bulgaria faces is its low media literacy. As a result, many citizens are ill-equipped to identify fake news or assess the credibility of political information. This vulnerability is especially dangerous in the context of social media, where platforms like Facebook dominate Bulgaria’s political advertising landscape.
According to BHC’s research, the PP-DB coalition harnessed Facebook’s reach to achieve more than twice the views of other parties, underscoring social media’s unchecked and powerful ability to shape public opinion.
Given the scarcity of fact-checking resources in Bulgaria, political messages, especially divisive ones, reach millions, even if based on misleading or incomplete information.
Regulatory Gaps in Social Media
While Bulgaria has laws governing political advertising in traditional media, it lacks similar transparency standards for political advertising on social media. This regulatory gap has allowed non-official pages to run opaque campaigns on platforms like Facebook. Despite the presence of a compliance body meant to monitor political advertising, it has no mandate to investigate complaints regarding social media campaigns. BHC’s study suggests a solution: updating the regulatory framework so that social networks also fall under the scope of the Electoral Code. By closing the regulatory gap, this would hold platforms accountable and bring transparency to online political content.
Ensuring a Democratic Future
As technological strides change how parties communicate with voters, regulations must adapt alongside them. Strengthening social media regulations, boosting media literacy, and restoring voter confidence are essential steps to deal with the new media environment in Bulgaria — and throughout Europe.
About The Research
This research paper by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) was prepared as a contribution to the project ‘Electoral Integrity and Political Microtargeting: An Evidence-Based Analysis in Six EU Member States’, coordinated by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties). The research project monitored online political advertising in the run-up to the 2024 European Parliament elections in six EU countries: Bulgaria (BHC), France (VoxPublic), Germany (Reset Tech), Hungary (HCLU), Poland (PAF) and Spain (Xnet), supported by Who Targets Me (WTM) as technical partner. The project relied primarily on data collected during the European Parliamentary elections campaign from political advertisements promoted on Facebook by political entities. Researchers scrutinised whether political actors follow national campaigning rules and European data protection rules by examining data voluntarily donated by citizens through a privacy-friendly desktop browser extension. The project was co-funded by Civitates and the Open Society Foundations.
Resources
BHC’s research brief (in English, short version)
BHC’s research paper (in Bulgarian, long version)
More about the research project: Who tries to influence your vote on Facebook?
