Elections 2024: Flemish parties spend 1.8m euros on social media ads
Flemish political parties have spent more than 1.7 million euros on Facebook and Instagram ads since September in the lead-up to this weekend’s local elections, with Vlaams Belang accounting for one-third of the total. Antwerp is the key battleground, where parties are focusing much of their digital ad spending.
Far-right party Vlaams Belang has spent more than 500,000 euros on Meta ads, Het Laatste Nieuws reports. This investment dwarfs the amounts spent by other major parties, with N-VA spending 297,152 euros and Vooruit 214,203 on its digital campaigns.
These figures, compiled by the Belgian research collective AdLens, show that ad spending is increasingly important in election campaigning, and not only in Flanders. In total, Belgian political parties, including those in Wallonia and Brussels, have invested nearly 3 million euros in Meta advertisements over the past five weeks.
Antwerp has emerged as the most contested battleground. Political parties in the city have spent almost 200,000 euros on social media ads, with Vlaams Belang’s local branch leading the way, having invested 55,227 euros.
While social media ads are a visible part of the campaign landscape, traditional campaign methods like roadside posters, door-to-door canvassing and printed leaflets remain important. Additionally, many parties are running ads on platforms such as YouTube and news websites.
#FlandersNewsService | Election posters in the Deurne district of Antwerp, a key battleground in this week’s local elections © BELGA PHOTO WARD VANDAEL
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