A study conducted by Sudinfo reveals how much Walloon political party leaders spend on social media advertising. Liberal party leader Georges-Louis Bouchez came out on top, spending around €50,000 on 200 sponsored publications this year.
Behind Bouchez were Paul Magnette (PS), who spent around €10,000 on 80 sponsored posts, and Raoul Hedebouew (PTB), whose 46 publications cost roughly €20,000. Écolo co-president Rajae Maouane spent €2,000 on 11 advertisements, while her counterpart Jean-Marc Nollet spent nothing on advertising alongside Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés) and François De Smet (DéFI).
"We have to live with the times, it is normal for parties to invest in social networks to communicate their ideas to the population," said Hedebouw. On the other hand, ULiège politics professor Pierre Verjans underlined the increasing use of social media by politicians to build up a personal image. "I think there were 28 interventions by Mr Bouchez per day. That's a lot. The MR leader is doing everything he can to get people talking about him."
The findings coincide with the decision of four small parties without elected officials to sue the Belgian state for its "discriminatory" laws on party financing, which they claim unfairly favour established parties. "A great deal of tax money is spent improperly," stated Jan Wostyn of Flemish party Vista. "This is self-service with money from the public treasury. The Belgian parties are the absolute top political advertisers on social media in Europe."
In addition, the Walloon parliament approved the 2024 budget on Wednesday evening. The Belgian Workers Party (PTB) voted against the budget, stating: "We cannot validate these accounts because we do not have answers to all our questions. We do not know why certain exorbitant expenditure on restaurants and travel occurred, or if it was even approved."
Deep pockets
Belgium's political expenses for social media advertising ranked 12th highest in Europe in 2021, overtaken by countries where there had been or would soon be an election. However, three political parties from Belgium nevertheless featured in the top ten: Flemish conservatives N-VA came first, Flemish far-right Vlaams Belang came fourth, and PTB came seventh.
In Flanders, the overall figure for political advertising on social media reached an estimated €6 million this year compared to €5 million in 2022, with N-VA and Vlaams Belang behind the bulk of it. Both parties have been accused of utilising social media as a tool to spread propaganda and exploit fear-mongering tactics in the past.
Vlaams Belang leader Tom Van Grieken spent more on Facebook and Instagram advertising in 2021 than any other politician in Western Europe. Van Grieken insists on the necessity of this advertising strategy due to the media's reticence to publish his party's advertisements or report on his policies.
