Context
The ASA is launching its new five-year strategy, “AI-assisted collective ad regulation”, with ambitious targets to make sure all ads are responsible and people are protected from being misled, harmed or offended by them.
Key points to note
The ASA says it has made significant progress over the last five years in proactively regulating ads across all media, particularly online, and is increasingly using AI to identify ads which may be problematic. Over the next five years, the ASA plans to invest more in preventative and proactive work than reactive complaints casework. This will help it investigate quicker, focus on preventing irresponsible ads appearing in the first place and deliver ongoing, agile and visible enforcement.
Highlights of the ASA’s strategy include:
- People: It will represent everyone, while prioritising the protection of the most vulnerable, and will recruit and retain the best people from diverse backgrounds and a wider geographical area.
- Planet: It will run its climate change and the environment project throughout the strategy period and will continue to implement its own Net Zero plan.
- Online: It will scale-up its AI-based Active Ad Monitoring system to swiftly act against irresponsible online ads and report on compliant ads. It will champion how it thinks the regulatory framework for online ads should develop, bringing greater transparency and broader accountability to platforms and intermediaries; and will work with other statutory regulators and play its part in tackling fraudulent online ads.
- Awareness and buy-in: It will increase public, opinion-former and industry awareness of, and trust in, its ad regulation across all media.
- Collective ad regulation: It will work with Governments and statutory regulators to ensure ad regulation is effective; and will continue engagement across national borders through membership of EASA and ICAS.
- Operational transformation: It will prioritise proactive projects on ad-related issues that cause the most detriment to people, will resolve investigations quicker, will prevent irresponsible ads appearing in the first place and will deliver ongoing, agile and visible enforcement.
Next actions
None – for information and awareness.