Holyrood vote crackdown to ‘stop Russian interference’
A Clampdown on political campaigning online will be put in place for next year’s Holyrood election over fears of Russian interference.
Parties will be forced to include a ‘digital imprint’ on all online campaign adverts in an attempt to prevent ‘external interference’.
Scottish Government ministers are set to unveil plans that will mean all online campaigning materials will have to show who made and paid for them.
The move will see legislation brought to Holyrood as part of a major drive to ‘safeguard’ the 2021 vote.
it comes after a report to Westminister’s intelligence and security committee found ‘credible’ evidence Russia had attempted to influence the independence referendum in 2014.
now Scottish Parliamentary Business minister Graeme Dey has disclosed that the Government will legislate to tackle the spread of misinformation ahead of the election.
He was asked by labour mSP Daniel Johnson how ministers will ‘safeguard the 2021 Scottish parliament elections from external interference’.
mr Dey said: ‘Returning officers have a responsibility for protecting the integrity of electoral processes and the Electoral Commission regulates campaign materials.
‘Police Scotland also have a role in safeguarding elections. To assist with this, we intend to legislate to introduce digital imprints to ensure that all online materials can be traced to source in time for the 2021 Scottish parliament election.
‘Foreign interference in elections is a matter of national security, which is a reserved subject matter.
‘The Scottish Government takes part in the UK Government Defending Democracy Programme, which aims to protect and secure democratic processes, including cybersecuever,
‘Aims to protect and secure’
rity and the preparedness of electoral events.’
The move will be included in the Referendums (Scotland) Act 2020 passed at Holyrood last year – under secondary legislation to be brought forward in the coming weeks.
Digital imprints were regulated in the run-up to the independence vote in 2014 – a UK first.
The UK Government has also recently committed itself to legislating for digital imprints for online campaigning.
in 2018, the Electoral Commission warned there had been a lack of regulation on digital campaigning leaving ‘democracy under threat’ amid the rise in ‘fake news’ and fears of external influence in elections.
it is understood the proposals will bring online campaigning in line with rules for traditional printed political leaflets.
By law, such material must contain details about which organisation or campaign group designed and paid for it. Howfor individual campaigners this would only be the case if they had paid to promote materials, for example on social media.
The Scottish Government will formally announce plans in the coming weeks. A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Digital imprints were regulated under the Scottish independence Referendum 2014 for the first time in any UK poll.
‘The Referendums (Scotland) Act 2020 contains provision to require secondary legislation in the autumn to ensure that online materials can be traced to source at the Scottish parliament election 2021.
‘Further details will be available shortly.’