Twitter to relax ban on political advertisements
In 2019, the platform had banned such ads ahead of the 2020 presidential elections in the United States.
Twitter on Tuesday said that it will relax its ban on political advertisements.
In 2019, Twitter had banned political advertisements on the platform ahead of the 2020 presidential elections in the United States. The decision came after it was revealed that Russia had attempted to manipulate the 2016 presidential election in the United States.
“Internet political ads present entirely new challenges to civic discourse: machine learning-based optimisation of messaging and micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes,” Twitter founder Jack Dorsey had said in 2019. “All at increasing velocity, sophistication, and overwhelming scale.”
However, under its new owner Elon Musk, Twitter has decided to revive political advertisements on the microblogging site, which could have a major effect ahead of 2024 elections in the US and India.
The technology company has also announced that it would relax its policy on “cause-based ads” in the United States, and would align its advertising policy with that of television and other media outlets.
Moving forward, we will align our advertising policy with that of TV and other media outlets. As with all policy changes, we will first ensure that our approach to reviewing and approving content protects people on Twitter. We'll share more details as this work progresses.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 3, 2023
The company’s current cause-based ad policy states: “Twitter restricts the promotion of and requires advertiser certification for ads that educate, raise awareness, and/or call for people to take action in connection with civic engagement, economic growth, environmental stewardship, or social equity causes.”
The changes in its advertising policies comes after corporate consultancy agencies in November had advised companies against buying advertisement space on the platform since Musk’s takeover of the company.
Some of the biggest advertising agencies including IPG, Group M, and Omnicom Media Group had recommended that their clients pause ads on the platform in November, reported The Verge.
The companies had cited massive layoffs, the reversal of the permanent suspension of former US President Donald Trump and the introduction of paid verification feature on Twitter as some of their reasons to not advertise on the platform.