It is “illegal” and raises “ethical problems”. Socialists use commercial billboard for election propaganda – News – SAPO.pt

The law states that the activity of “partisan political propaganda, whether or not it has an electoral nature, is free and can be carried out even outside campaign periods”. Parties can, whenever they want, put their propaganda on the streets. However, commercial advertising media is prohibited, such as billboards paid for by brands and entities to advertise products or services. The Portuguese socialist delegation in the European Parliament (EP), however, chose to make a clean sweep and, after several unsuccessful attempts for legal reasons, managed to find someone who would agree to place it on a digital advertising billboard, in the middle of the Estoril roundabout, next to the Club of Tennis, its political propaganda.

SAPO, official source of the Portuguese delegation of the socialists, guarantees that there were no refusals, but rather “a normal market consultation, carried out with three companies operating in Portugal” and that they all presented proposals, “one being chosen, as happened in the remaining Member States”, as part of the propaganda campaign of the European Socialist Group (SPD) which aims to “highlight the greatest achievements” of recent years.

To SAPO, the PS clarified that “this poster is not from the PS”https://www.sapo.pt/noticias/atualidade/artigos/.”This is a pan-European information campaign about the values ​​and policies defended by S&D which, following the EP’s own rules, can only be placed on commercial networks and until the start of the electoral campaign”, adds an official party source in Lisbon. And refer any explanation to the Portuguese socialist delegation in Strasbourg.

If the origin of the contract is not in Lisbon, it is certain that several companies operating advertising on street furniture received a request to place advertising in the spaces they manage and refused the contract, for legal reasons. In a legal opinion, the jurist explains that the Advertising Law clearly separates the waters when it comes to parties, not allowing billboard companies and spaces dedicated to advertising to be used in political advertising.

“Because they have different purposes, advertisers cannot use freedom of expression rights to advertise, just as advertising licenses cannot be used for political propaganda purposes”, confirm jurists. “Having been granted for the purpose of advertising, they are defrauding the determining reason for their grant”, concludes in an opinion consulted by SAPO.

In fact, party propaganda is always mounted by the parties themselves, in places designed for this purpose and without recourse to companies that work the advertising spaces — as is the case with the AD poster visible next to the space contracted by the Portuguese socialist delegation in the PE to Dreammedia. The reason is simple: these advertising billboards, particularly modern digital solutions that even incorporate video, as is the case, are prohibited. “If we could run political campaigns, we would always do so,” a sector source tells SAPO, recognizing that it would be a sure source of income.

Contacted by SAPO, the company that agreed to place the billboard did not respond to the questions addressed to it, so far.

According to Decree-Law No. 330/90, of October 23, which approves the Advertising Code, advertising is considered to be “any form of communication made by entities of a public or private nature, within the scope of a commercial activity , industrial, artisanal or liberal, with the direct or indirect objective of promoting, with a view to its commercialization or disposal, any goods or services”. And in paragraph 3 it is specified that “for the purposes of this diploma, political propaganda is not considered advertising”, clearly leaving out the possibility of parties using these formats.

There is also another point emphasized in the legal opinion: since advertising on billboards/billboards/shelters is paid by the person interested in the dissemination, unlike what happens with political advertising, this use, contrary to what the law says, “raises questions of potential conflicts of interest operators who sell their space for advertising purposes”.

“The issue is quite complex”, he agrees, in statements to SAPO, another source in the sector, explaining that there is an “ethical issue” that also needs to be weighed here: if a company operating advertising on street furniture could be hired to the political campaign of a party, this could have implications, for example, in the subsequent award of exploration contracts to local authorities led by that same party force. For good and for bad.

There is also the issue of municipal rules and local authorities often make the posting or inscription of “advertising messages on goods or spaces in the public domain, or that are visible from them”, dependent on prior licensing.

Petitions for cleaner and more sustainable cities multiply

At a time when popular mobilization against pollution carried out by party propaganda is gaining strength, the issue takes on a more serious tone. Although it is legal and there is not even a deadline for political posters to be removed from public streets — this is what the law dictates, which determines that freedom of political propaganda is free and is not subject to special periods, nor is removal mandatory. of posters, even if outdated, in public space, as the National Elections Commission (CNE) has clarified — there are more and more citizens uncomfortable with their presence on the streets.

“Whoever enters Lisbon, via the Second Circular, via the Duarte Pacheco Viaduct or any other route, is impacted by a carnival of propaganda”, lament Lisbon residents. This has already led, for example, to the Estrela Parish Council, on the initiative of the independent member Pedro Castro, to be able to approve a motion to remove permanent political posters in emblematic places in the parish, now leading to the intention of extending this initiative to All country. Tim Vieira is also running an online petition to bring the issue to debate in the Assembly, so that the law can be changed that prevents people from touching political posters, no matter how damaged they are or even if they cause pollution, not just visual pollution. .

“There are countless propaganda panels that remain abandoned in public spaces after electoral periods and/or are placed during non-electoral periods in iconic areas of cities”, recalls the text of the petition, which wants a deadline to be drawn five working days following the date of the elections for at least political advertising panels posted during election periods to be removed. And it is requested that, during non-electoral periods, “the placement of political panels in public space is prohibited”.

For now, however, the removal of posters was only achieved by the Lisbon council in the Marquês de Pombal area and to do so, remember, it was necessary for Carlos Moedas to move forward with the classification of the square to prevent the “savage occupation” of the space by billboards.

@carlosmoedas ❗️The removal of the Marquês de Pombal posters did not affect our democracy. We will extend this measure to other areas of the city to protect our history and safeguard our heritage. Thank you to the parties who respected this decision. outdoors marquêsdepombal outdoorsmarquês lisboa politics foryoupage fyp foryou ♬ original sound – Carlos Moedas

News updated at 23.20 with clarification from the Portuguese PS and European socialists.