The Regulation of Electoral Campaigning in the Digital Age: an Opportunity or Threat for Electoral Integrity?: A Case Study of the 2024 European Elections

Digital campaigning by political actors is testing the limits of core aspects of regulatory frameworks for elections, and poses challenges to electoral integrity. Social media advertising potentially exposes elections to foreign interference and the spread of disinformation; the use of cryptocurrencies, crowdfunding and micro-credits can be used to circumvent existing rules on donations and electoral fundraising; and the role of digital influencers in election campaigns constitutes a substantial test for the rules on third party campaigning. This is especially worrying considering that campaign finance remains the weakest element of electoral regulation and management. While there has been increasing academic attention to the digital organisation and activities of political parties and candidates the regulatory challenges of these new practices have been often overlooked. Similarly, while many scholars have examined many aspects and the evolution of party and campaign finance regulations, the digital realm of electoral campaigning has been limited to case studies and has not been the object of a comparative and comprehensive study. This paper will connect these different fields of research by assessing the European trends of the regulation of the digital aspects of electoral campaigns. This paper will examine (1) examine if and how EU countries have adapted their regulatory framework to digital campaigning (2) explore factors that can explain why countries have (not) altered their rules, and (3) identify possible best practices.