Political parties’ ads reach skewed audiences as Meta’s algorithms make targeting decisions
Analysis of this year's political advertising reveals New Zealand parties reaching disproportionate gender mixes, driven largely by Meta's AI systems rather than deliberate party choices.
An RNZ analysis of political ads on Facebook and Instagram found National's ads were seen overwhelmingly by men, while the Greens' ads reached mostly women, with ACT showing a similar male skew. The disparity stems from Meta's AI systems that optimise ad delivery based on predicted user engagement, meaning parties may set broad initial audiences but the platform determines who ultimately sees the ads. Research internationally has documented similar algorithmic bias in ad distribution, though regulators face challenges: the EU's transparency rules prompted Meta and Google to stop political advertising there entirely. New Zealand currently requires election ads to carry promoter statements and has spending limits, but lacks disclosure requirements around targeting methods or actual audience composition.
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Algorithms are choosing who sees what political ads. NZ needs transparency
Only an election or two ago, digital advertising was relatively straightforward. But now the model has shifted. A recent RNZ analysis of political advertising on Facebook and Instagram revealed an intriguing pattern in who was seeing the ads. Of more…