Clicks, Money and Influence: Online Media’s Roles and Responsibilities in Elections

It is necessary to strengthen the transparency and oversight of paid political advertising among online media outlets during the election campaign. This is the basic premise from which the implementation of the project “Money, Media and Elections in North Macedonia” began, which was implemented by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) together with the Metamorphosis Foundation. As a culmination of the implementation of the project activities, on March 4 and 5, 2025, in Skopje, the international conference “Clicks, Money and Influence: Online Media’s Roles and Responsibilities in Elections” was held.

In her opening speech, Ioana Cosma, IFES Country Director, emphasized that the goal of this event is to facilitate the exchange of international good practices and regulations for the supervision of political campaigns and online media outlets during elections, as well as to see whether some of those practices can be incorporated into the national practice and legal framework.

In his welcoming speech, Metamorphosis Executive Director Bardhyl Jashari noted that the implementation identified critical gaps and weaknesses in political paid advertising among online media outlets during the election campaign for the parliamentary elections.

Within the session “ Countdown to elections in North Macedonia: How to Strengthen the Transparency and Oversight of Paid Political Advertising during Media Campaign, including on Internet Portals?” there was a discussion on possible ways to improve the oversight, reporting, and transparency of internet portals during elections—a review of the current regulatory, ethical, and practical challenges regarding future elections.

Maksim Acevski, Auditor General at the State Audit Office, pointed out that the institution spends valuable human resources and money when it comes to monitoring the election process, which an entire sector composed of certified auditors continuously monitors.

“For years we have been saying that there is a need to amend the Electoral Code, which is being passed by political actors without consulting us,” Acevski said. According to him, this area needs to be regulated, especially in the field of internet portals, in order to prescribe criteria for the distribution of funds, as well as to further regulate penal policy.

The Director of the Agency for Audio and Audio–visual Media Services, Zoran Trajchevski, reiterated in his presentation that the AVMU believes there should be no paid political advertising from the state budget. He also spoke about the tendency of redirecting election campaigns to social networks. He said that during the presidential elections, it was noticeable that public office holders and candidates used their Facebook profiles to openly campaign, with live broadcasts, speeches, photos, and videos of meetings with citizens.

“That’s how they mobilized a larger number of supporters and gained more viewers. Campaigning on social networks is not regulated at all in our country,” Trajchevski added.

Minister of Digital Transformation Stefan Andonovski emphasized at the event that this ministry has taken over one of the responsibilities related to media policies.

“The number of portals is much higher compared to traditional media outlets, although many of them are phantom. The preparation of the media law is in its final stages and is expected to be presented at a government session soon, followed by discussion in Parliament,” the minister said.

The second day of the conference was opened by the Deputy Ambassador of the British Embassy in Skopje, Daniel Fieller, with a keynote speech.

“It is important to take stock from each election cycle as a next step to improving the integrity of future elections. Our UK funded IFES Project—Money, Media and Elections provides evidence and proposals for improved oversight of public spend in online election campaigning and the role of media in shaping public discourse,” Fieller said.

This was followed by the session “Overseeing Paid Political Ads: Institutional Roles and Changing Requirements in the Rapidly Advancing Digital Age,” which discussed national and international practices (and challenges) in monitoring paid political advertising and ensuring compliance, especially regarding online campaigning during elections. Speakers included Emilija Janevska, Head of the Program Affairs Department of the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, Magnus Öhman, Director of IFES Regional Europe Office and Senior Political Finance Adviser, and Noemi Arcidiacono, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The session was moderated by Danche Danilovska-Bajdevska, Program Director at the Metamorphosis Foundation.

During the final session, titled “Tools and Methodologies for Ethical Online Media Monitoring and Reporting,” speakers Sam Power, International Expert on Political and Party Financing, University of Bristol and Biljana Georgievska, Executive Directress, Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia, addressed the application of tools and methodologies for monitoring and reporting of the activities of online media outlets during elections. The session opened a discussion on good practices, technological solutions (including the use of AI) and regulatory approaches to ensure transparency, accountability, and accuracy in the oversight of digital media. The session was moderated by Zlatko Simonovski from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).

Over 70 participants and 12 speakers present at the two-day conference “Clicks, Money and Influence: The Roles and Responsibilities of Online Media in Elections,” discussed the ways in which online portals during elections and in a time of growth in digital campaigns and their influence can contribute to ethical and fair reporting on candidates and parties participating in elections, and the following conclusions were drawn:

• There are no specific laws regulating online political advertising, hence the need for legal regulation of this area by granting powers to a given institution or body.
• Until specific legal solutions are implemented, it is essential to establish mechanisms for enforcing and monitoring harmful content through collaboration with civil society organizations and the use of digital tools.
• Urgent criteria are needed to ensure that state funding for election campaigns reaches credible portals.

There are good international practices that can help regulate the work of online portals and the financing and reporting of money spent in election campaigns in general, including artificial intelligence tools.

• Attention should also be paid to the ownership of online portals, as this can often reveal an invisible connection between parties and the favoritism content that is being placed.

The conference “ Clicks, Money and Influence: The Roles and Responsibilities of Online Media in Elections, ” is organized within the framework of the project “Money, Media and Elections in North Macedonia” funded by the Government of the United Kingdom with the support of the British Embassy Skopje.

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