Twitter says it will relax ban on political advertising

Twitter says it can ease up on its three-year-old ban on political promoting, the most recent change by Elon Musk as he tries to pump up income after buying the social media platform final 12 months.

The firm tweeted late Tuesday that “we’re relaxing our ads policy for cause-based ads in the US.”

“We also plan to expand the political advertising we permit in the coming weeks,” the corporate stated from its Twitter Safety account.

Twitter banned all political promoting in 2019, reacting to rising concern about misinformation spreading on social media.

At the time, then-CEO Jack Dorsey stated that whereas web adverts are highly effective and efficient for industrial advertisers, “that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions.”

The newest transfer seems to characterize a break from that coverage, which had banned adverts by candidates, political events, or elected or appointed authorities officers.

Political promoting made up a sliver of Twitter’s general income, accounting for lower than US$3 million of whole spending for the 2018 U.S. midterm election.

In reversing the ban, Twitter stated that “cause-based advertising can facilitate public conversation around important topics” and that the change will align the platform’s promoting coverage with these of “TV and other media outlets,” with out offering additional particulars.

Facebook in March 2021 lifted its ban on political and social challenge adverts that was put in place after the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Musk payments himself as a free-speech warrior and acquired Twitter as a result of he apparently believed it wasn’t dwelling as much as its potential as a free speech platform. But the billionaire Tesla CEO has been compelled to make big price cuts and scramble to search out extra sources of income to justify the US$44 billion buy.