Getting the democracy we deserve

Google’s referendum ad ban shows how outdated our election laws are – and it has filled the gap in deciding the rules on digital ads

The ban by Google of all abortion-related advertising in advance of the referendum on the Eighth Amendment is dangerous for Irish democracy.

If the printing companies who printed election posters decided, with just two weeks’ notice to voting day, to stop producing campaign placards, serious questions about censorship would be asked. So too if newspapers decided not to publish advertisements from political parties or if radio stations chose not to interview election candidates.