📖 Dissertation

The dissertation explores the practice of political microtargeting, a technique where political campaigns use data, often provided by social media, to send tailored messages to specific groups of voters, for example to persuade or mobilize them. It’s a widespread practice in today’s digital age, impacting how political messages are crafted and delivered globally.

The dissertation delves into three key aspects: how widespread the practice is globally (Chapter 2), how algorithms influence the delivery of political ads (Chapter 3), and how microtargeting might be used to deliver very negative (or “toxic”) messages (Chapter 4).

Slidedecks

• Algorithmic Microtargeting? How ad delivery algorithms influence distribution of political ads

• Who Doesn’(t) Target You? Mapping the Worldwide Usage of Online Political Microtargeting

📝 Publications

Afonso, A., & Votta, F. (2022). Electoral and religious correlates of COVID-19 vaccination rates in Dutch municipalities. ‘European Journal of Public Health’, 32(6), 985-987.

Banai, A., Votta, F., & Seitz, R. (2022). The Polls—Trends: Trends in Public Opinion toward Immigration among EU Member States. Public Opinion Quarterly, 86(1), 191-215.

Beraldo, D., Milan, S., de Vos, J., Agosti, C., Sotic, B. N., Vliegenthart, R., … & Votta, F. (2021). Political advertising exposed: tracking Facebook ads in the 2021 Dutch elections. Internet Policy Review (Mar. 11, 2021). URL: https://policyreview. info/articles/news/politicaladvertising-exposed-tracking-facebook-ads-2021-dutch-elections/1543.

Dobber, T., Kruikemeier, S., Votta, F., Helberger, N., & Goodman, E. P. (2023). The effect of traffic light veracity labels on perceptions of political advertising source and message credibility on social media. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 1-16.

Guinaudeau, B., Munger, K., & Votta, F. (2022). Fifteen seconds of fame: TikTok and the supply side of social video. Computational Communication Research, 4(2), 463-485.

van Drunen, M. Z., Groen-Reijman, E., Dobber, T., Noroozian, A., Leerssen, P. J., Helberger, N., de Vreese, C. H., & Votta, F.. (2022). Transparency and (no) more in the Political Advertising Regulation. Internet Policy Review.

Vreese, C. D., & Votta, F. (2023). AI and Political Communication. Political Communication Report, 2023.

Votta, F., Noroozian, A., Dobber, T., Helberger, N., & de Vreese, C. (2023). Going Micro to Go Negative? Targeting Toxicity using Facebook and Instagram Ads. Computational Communication Research, 5(1), 1-50.

Whittaker, J. & Looney, S. & Reed, A. & Votta, F. (2021). Recommender systems and the amplification of extremist content. Internet Policy Review, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.14763/2021.2.1565

📰 Media

A list of media appearances and references in TV, radio and newspapers.

🇩🇪 ZDF Magazin Royale (in German)

• Political microtargeting during German 2021 election (in colab with Who Targets Me): YouTube Video
• Data Visualization

🇳🇱 Volkskrant (in Dutch)

• Politieke online advertenties in campagnetijd: wie houdt van André Hazes, is interessant voor BBB
• Caroline van der Plas’ victory is also the victory of good old television

🇳🇱 De Groene Amsterdammer (in Dutch)

• Research during the 2023 Dutch election: The Ignored Citizen
• Dashboard for the 2023 Dutch election: De Campagnemonitor

🇮🇹 Quotidiano Nazionale (in Italian)

• I rischi della profilazione elettorale sul web: “Si può usare per manipolare le persone”
• Spot su Facebook e Instagram, i soldi spesi per le Regionali. Medici nel mirino del Pd

🇳🇱 RTL Nieuws (in Dutch)

• PVV gaf slechts 4500 euro uit aan advertenties, NSC niets

🇳🇱 DutchNews.nl

• Parties less keen on social media in run up to elections: FD

🇳🇱 Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch)

• Inperking Facebook en Instagram donkere wolk boven verkiezingscampagnes
• Enthusiasm in online campaigning is crumbling, but not yet for everyone

🇧🇪 De Tijd (in Dutch)

• Vlaamse partijen guller dan ooit met Facebook-reclame, ondanks alle kritiek

🇧🇪 Apache (in Dutch)

• Vlaams Belang betaalt 90 keer meer voor 1.000 Facebookgebruikers dan CD&V
• Voor Vlaams Belang liever geen fans van Galatasaray of couscous

📊📈 Dashboards

Here is a list of dashboards that were created to monitor microtargeting and digital campaigns during election time:

• 🇳🇱 2021 Dutch parliamentary election (15th-17th March 2021)
• 🇩🇪 2021 German federal election (26 September 2021)
• 🇸🇪 2022 Swedish general election (11th September 2022)
• 🇺🇸 2022 United States midterm elections (8th November 2022)
• 🇺🇸 2022 United States midterm elections - Georgia Runoff (6th December 2022)
• 🇮🇹 2023 Lazio & Lombardy regional election (12-13th February 2023)
• 🇪🇪 2023 Estonian parliamentary election (5th March 2023)
• 🇳🇱 2023 Dutch provincial elections (15th March 2023)
• 🇲🇪 2023 Montenegrin presidential elections (19th March 2023) - 1st round
• 🇦🇺 2023 New South Wales state election (25th March 2023)
• 🇫🇮 2023 Finnish parliamentary election (2 April 2023)
• 🇹🇷 2023 Turkish general election (14 May 2023) - Round 1
• 🇩🇪 2023 Bremen State election (14 May 2023)
• 🇬🇷 2023 Greek Legislative election (21 May 2023)
• 🇹🇷 2023 Turkish Presidential election (14 May 2023) - Round 2
• 🇲🇪 2023 Montenegrin parliamentary elections (11 June 2023)
• 🇬🇷 2nd 2023 Greek Legislative election (25 May 2023)
• 🇸🇰 2023 Slovak parliamentary election (30 September 2023)
• 🇩🇪 2023 Bavarian state election (8 October 2023)
• 🇩🇪 2023 Hessian state election (8 October 2023)
• 🇳🇿 2023 New Zealand general election (14 October 2023)
• 🇵🇱 2023 Polish parliamentary election (15 October 2023)
• 🇺🇸 US Presidential Primaries (2023-2024)

🏆 Awards

APSA ITP Best Journal Article Award 2023

This award is given to best article published in Information Technology and Politics (ITP). The awarded paper is: Fifteen Seconds of Fame: TikTok and the Supply Side of Social Video.

Best Paper Award in Political Communication at ICA 2023

This award is given to the best paper presented in the Political Communication division at the International Communication Association (ICA) annual conference in Toronto 2023. The awarded paper is: Algorithmic Microtargeting? Testing the Influence of the Meta Ad Delivery Algorithm.