Federal election spending spree ramps up on social media, and will evade ad blackout rules

A major political party is now spending more than $100,000 a day on Facebook and the ad onslaught will continue until polling day despite blackout rules.

Election advertising on social media is reaching its peak, with Labor splashing more than $100,000 a day on Facebook ads while United Australia Party breaks the $18 million spending barrier on YouTube.

And the political ad spending spree is likely to continue until polling day as Australia’s old-fashioned election advertising blackout, which comes into play at midnight on Thursday, does not affect online platforms.

Political experts have slammed the regulations as outdated and “not fit for purpose,” and say they should be overhauled by the next parliament.

An analysis of social media election ads shows the Australian Labor Party spent almost $700,000 with Facebook in the past week alone over 709 advertisements.

By comparison, the Liberal Party placed just 18 Facebook ads, paying $117,000.

Pathmatics regional director Eugene Du Plessis said the company’s digital marketing research showed social media had become a major vehicle for election ads in Australia, with Labor consistently spending $600,000 a week across digital platforms for a mix of policy and negative advertising.

By contrast, the Liberal Party was buying mostly negative ads, he said, trading Facebook ads for YouTube videos, and reducing its spending to gear “up for a big final week”.

The Liberal Party was buying mostly negative ads.

“If we look at where these ads are appearing, Labor is continuing to use social media as its main digital media channel whereas the Liberal party appears to be taking a leaf out of the United Australia Party’s book with video ads, upping its YouTube ad spend dramatically,” he said.

“With only a few days left until election day, the race for votes is well and truly on.”

But the biggest spending party of all, Clive Palmer’s UAP, has broken records on YouTube this week, with Google figures showing the company has spent more than $18.1 million on political ads since November 2020.

The United Australia Party spent the most in social media advertising.

The Labor Party spent almost $700,000 with Facebook in the past week alone over 709 advertisements.

The spending spree is expected to continue until polling day as Australia’s pre-election advertising blackout rules do not include social media, only banning election advertisements on radio and television.

Australian National University political marketing expert Dr Andrew Hughes said the blackout had seen major parties “go to town” on social media advertising in the days before the 2019 election, even paying social media influencers in marginal seats to make videos.

“It’s messy,” he said. “It’s the Wild West and anything can happen which is where we’re heading based on 2019.”

The spending spree is expected to continue until polling day as Australia’s pre-election advertising blackout rules do not include social media.

Policy expert and former senior Howard Government adviser Terry Barnes said existing blackout laws were a quirk in need of urgent reform.

“Our election funding and advertising laws are not fit for purpose in this modern era — they’re an anomaly of history really,” he said.

“The reality is that the best way to get the major parties to be accountable is to get them to disclose their spending on non-traditional advertising and on social media.”

Mr Barnes said the major party who formed government after May 21 should commit to reforming election advertising laws to be more transparent.