Research by Gözlemevi, an initiative working to raise awareness about digital political ad activities in Turkey, reveals that Facebook and Instagram show political ads overwhelmingly to men. In March, 71 per cent of the advertisements of 9 political accounts that advertised in a gender-neutral manner were shown to men.
While digital political adverts are beneficial for democratic processes in that they encourage voters to be more likely to go to the polls and to participate more actively in political processes, Gözlemevi’s (Observatory) study shows that political adverts are mostly shown to men.
Gözlemevi (Observatory) is an initiative working to better inform and increase the awareness of the voters, civil society, and media in Turkey on digital political advertisement activities.
Gözlemevi examined the political ads broadcast on Facebook in Turkey in March this year and their recipients on a gender basis. Gender distribution of the recipients of the ads was determined using the 10 advertisements that the Meta pages which broadcast the most ads spent the most money on.
Among the social media accounts examined, those that have the highest ratio of men among their political ad recipients are Sinan Oğan’s account with 90 percent, Yakup Türkal’s account with 77 percent, and the account of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) with 75 percent. Gözlemevi also reflected that the Green and Left Party (YSP) did not place ads on this platform.
Although Facebook accounts do not differentiate between genders when ad targeting options are concerned, political ads have been received by men. For the ten accounts that have been examined, 71 percent of the political ads placed without making a gender preference were shown to men. Only Deva Party placed ads targeting women especially.
Solution: Eliminating discrimination in the algorithm
Analysing the results of the research, the Observatory wrote the following:
“Our research on the political ad targeting of Facebook in Turkey revealed that there was great gender bias with most ads being shown to men. The situation that this finding shows has a negative effect in terms of equality and democracy in society, including the exclusion of women from the political agenda, reinforcing existing inequalities, and potential manipulation of voters.
Discrimination inherent to the algorithm should be eliminated in order for a more inclusive and equalitarian political environment to be obtained.”
According to Gözlemevi, political micro targeting is not the only Meta practice that undermines women’s political participation. Digital violence and harassment also have a negative impact.
“Research shows that women are more likely than men to encounter sexist and discriminatory comments when they express their opinions on social media. Digital violence and harassment caused by these comments reduce women’s participation in political debates. The fact that they are exposed to sexist comments and harassment in political debates more than men prevents women from expressing themselves digitally.”