{"id":366946,"date":"2018-06-27T09:30:53","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T08:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/british-democracy-under-threat-electoral-watchdog-says-as-it-calls-for-urgent-reform-rt-uk-news\/"},"modified":"2018-06-27T09:30:53","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T08:30:53","slug":"british-democracy-under-threat-electoral-watchdog-says-as-it-calls-for-urgent-reform-rt-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/british-democracy-under-threat-electoral-watchdog-says-as-it-calls-for-urgent-reform-rt-uk-news\/","title":{"rendered":"British democracy under \u2018threat,\u2019 electoral watchdog says as it calls for urgent reform \u2014 RT UK News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Electoral Commission has warned that British democracy is \u201cat threat,\u201d demanding a major overhaul of electoral law in order to make online political advertising more transparent.<\/p>\n

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The commission has called for a shake-up of electoral law after a string of political scandals, including data-mining company Cambridge Analytica and Leave.EU founder Arron Banks being fined \u00a370,000 (US$93,800) for breaching multiple counts of electoral law during the 2016 EU referendum.<\/p>\n

The watchdog recommended that online ads and social media messages be brought in line with paper leaflets, meaning they would clearly state who pays for them.<\/p>\n

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Sir John Holmes, chair of the Electoral Commission, told BBC News that voters \u201ccan have faith in the democratic process as it stands\u201d but added: \u201cwhat we are seeing is digital campaigning and use of social media exploding in all directions \u2013 that is why we think the rules need modernizing and clarifying.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Electoral Commission has also asked for its investigative power to be extended and to be allowed to hand fines \u201csignificantly\u201d<\/em> higher than the standard \u00a320,000 if a party is found in breach of electoral law.<\/p>\n

\u201cUrgent action must be taken by the UK\u2019s governments to ensure that the tools used to regulate political campaigning online continue to be fit for purpose in a digital age,\u201d<\/em> Holmes said.<\/p>\n

The call for reform comes after British firm Cambridge Analytica was forced into liquidation after it was alleged to have acquired data on 87 million Facebook users without their consent to target them during political campaigns.<\/p>\n

The scandal sparked two separate investigations, one by the Electoral Commission into the company\u2019s role in former UKIP leader Nigel Farage\u2019s Leave.EU campaign, and one by the Information Commissioner\u2019s Office, which has announced a wider inquiry into the use of data in politics.<\/p>\n

Arron Banks, one of UKIP\u2019s largest donors, was questioned by the Electoral Commission over his finances and the sources of his donations to the Leave.EU campaign. Banks said the electoral watchdog would have never called for such an overhaul had the EU referendum outcome been the UK remaining in the bloc.<\/p>\n