The European Union is proposing a ban on media companies targeting political ads at people based on their religious views or sexual orientation, a new volley in the continent’s expansion of global tech regulation.
A bill proposed Thursday by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, would restrict online tech platforms from targeting political ads at individual users based on a list of categories that regulators deem sensitive, including their race, political beliefs and health status, without users’ explicit consent. But it stops short of a broader ban on so-called microtargeting based on personal information that some activists had demanded.