Online politics needs to be cleaned up – but not just by Facebook and Twitter | Lisa-Maria Neudert and Phil Howard

Social media platforms do have a role to play, but real change requires political parties to take responsibility

" Lisa-Maria Neudert and Phil Howard are on the Oxford Technology and Elections Commission

Social media platforms wanting to help curb political disinformation on their sites are offering new ways to avoid it online. Twitter has discontinued all political ads and Facebook has new tools for content moderation. This is a good start, even if not all platforms are showing initiative, and not all such attempts are fruitful.

However, electioneering and political campaigning don't start with technology firms. They start with the political parties and their affinity groups. To keep our elections free and fair, and to be confident in their outcomes, parties need to disclose what ads they're buying, on which platforms, and at what price. Now is the chance for campaigns to demonstrate their commitment to transparency and accountability.