Don’t make advertising the next sewage scandal: accountability and oversight in UK online advertising regulation

This short commentary and report on UK online advertising regulation are produced by the Branded Content Governance Project, a three-year international research project, funded by two UK research councils (ESRC and AHRC ES/W007991/1).

This commentary and report on the UK Online Advertising Programme consultation follows from the Online Advertising Regulation Policy Briefing produced and published the Branded Content Governance (BCG) Project in June 2023.

The report argues that the Government’s proposed action has been unduly narrow in scope. It argues that it is inappropriate to ask the advertising industry - which the original consultation placed under scrutiny - to provide the solutions alone, without wider public involvement. This report is written by Professor Jonathan Hardy, Principal Investigator for the BCG Project. The views expressed are the author’s own.