Just weeks before a ban on political advertisements takes effect on Facebook and Instagram, Vlaams Belang significantly increased its ad spending on these platforms, according to data compiled by the citizens’ group Adlens and reported by De Standaard on Wednesday, reports 24brussels.
Between August 19 and September 19, Vlaams Belang invested €327,630 in social media ads, an increase of approximately €80,000 compared to the same period last year, when the party spent €254,794 on advertising ahead of the local elections.
All Flemish parties, with the exception of Open VLD, raised their social media ad expenditures, yet none approached the scale or growth rate exhibited by Vlaams Belang.
Moreover, Vlaams Belang’s ad spending surpasses that of parties in the Netherlands, which are preparing for upcoming elections. The far-right Forum for Democracy led the Dutch spending with €58,000 on advertisements last month, while all Dutch parties combined spent about €160,000 during that same timeframe.
“Without elections, Vlaams Belang spends more in absolute terms than all Dutch parties combined,” stated Geert Van Damme of Adlens. “And the Netherlands has three times the population.”
Meta Drops Political Ads
Adlens bases its figures on estimates released by Meta itself. In late July, Meta announced it will prohibit all “political, electoral and social issue” ads on Facebook and Instagram across the EU starting in October.
This decision stems from the EU’s Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, which imposes stricter requirements regarding the labeling, tracking, and targeting of political advertisements. Meta has stated that these regulations create legal uncertainties and operational complexities that render compliance “untenable.”
Under the forthcoming regulations, political advertisements within the EU must explicitly disclose the funding sources, the elections or causes they relate to, and their targeting strategies. Additionally, platforms are required to maintain transparency archives. Google has also announced that it will cease serving political ads in EU countries due to the TTPA.
