The chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Hanan Meltzer, ordered today (Wednesday) that even propaganda publications on the Internet - including on social networks and search engines - must be identified.
This is a precedent-setting decision, according to which videos and ads whose distributors or advertisers do not identify themselves are committing a criminal offense.
According to the decision, a propaganda message on behalf of a party, a list of candidates, or anyone on their behalf must not be anonymous.
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The decision was made with the aim of increasing transparency, linking the propaganda message to the morality of the propaganda, and preventing unfair deception of voters.
The chairman of the Elections Committee emphasized that, beyond that, publishing anonymous propaganda makes it difficult for security officials to check whether there is foreign interference in the elections for the 21st Knesset, as a lesson from election campaigns in other countries around the world.
According to Judge Meltzer, "Anonymous propaganda that is not identified is liable to distort and degrade the discourse, and during the election period, lead to the exploitation of social networks and search engines to harm democracy and the fundamental values of society.".
The Elections Committee clarifies that the order applies to advertisers, and not to advertising platforms where the advertising is done without editing or pagination - such as Google or Facebook. This is because these platforms were not a party to the proceedings, and clarified that they will activate a "notice and removal" mechanism - so that citizens can report anonymous propaganda publications to them, and if it turns out that the publication is anonymous, the platform will consider removing it.
The committee says that as part of the considerations for removing the advertisement, the decision and the injunction that was issued should also be taken into account.
