EU advertising libraries mandate archiving, reach data, and transparency under the DSA, enabling fraud and influence detection even after ads stop running. In contrast, most US online ads disappear without trace, making large-scale manipulation effectively invisible.

Ad fraud thrives where ad systems lack transparency, allowing platforms to profit while users and businesses bear the harm.

The European Commission fined X €120M for breaching basic transparency rules — from misleading “verification” to an unusable ads library and blocking researchers from accessing public data. Musk frames this as a free-speech issue, but the case shows a refusal to provide accountability, not a defense of expression.

A new report says bot networks are hijacking TikTok in Germany to boost far-right AfD content, distorting public opinion with fake engagement and extremist hate speech.

Strong ad transparency, as required by the DSA, is essential to stop scams in real time, trace who was targeted, and hold platforms accountable.