Requirements when publishing electronic material
Section 52 – Requirement to include information
166.This section has the principal (digital imprint) requirement for information about any relevant third party promoters and any person on behalf of whom the material is being published (who is not the promoter) to be included as part of the electronic material. It is to be legible or audible and directly accessible (where not included in the material itself) imprint on electronic material within the scope of the regime. It is a similar requirement to that in section 41 of the Elections Act 2022 in relation to the material covered there.
167.Subsection (1) requires these imprints to be displayed as part of the material or in a location that is directly accessible from the material only where that is not reasonably practicable. Subsection (2) provides that the imprint information required to be embedded within electronic material is the name and address of the promoter of the material and any person on behalf of whom the material is being published (and who is not the promoter).
168.As with the corresponding provisions in the Elections Act 2022, subsection (3) has regulation-making powers to modify the details to be included in the imprint, if required. This is to accommodate technological advances and any required changes as a result of the implementation of this or the corresponding regime under the Elections Act 2022.
169.Subsections (4) to (6) set out further imprint requirements, for example that the imprint is legible or audible and retained as part of the material when republished.
Section 53 – Exceptions to requirement in section 52
170.This section sets out a number of exceptions to the regime. Subsection (1) provides that generally, the re-publishing or ‘re-sharing’ of electronic material will not require a new imprint, where the original (section 52 compliant) imprint is retained in the material, and the material (the content or the imprint) has not been materially altered since it was previously published (for example, sharing, forwarding or re-posting an existing message on social media). The exception applies regardless of whether the material is re-published by the original promoter, or by another person.
171.Subsection (3) outlines exceptions for material published for journalistic purposes which is the publication of electronic material on a website or mobile application whose primary purpose is the publication of journalism. For example, campaigning material written as an article in a blog or an online newspaper would not require a digital imprint.
172.Subsection (5) makes provision to amend the section, by way of regulations, to add, modify or remove cases to which an imprint is not required.
