Twitter bans political ads globally, will allow some “cause-based” ads with limited targeting and promotion of issue-related fact-based reporting from news orgs
- Twitter laid out the framework for its new policy on political ads, which bans certain advertisers and has stricter rules for issue ads.
Political advertisers lose Twitter entirely after November 22, while advocacy groups get only a narrowed cause-based lane with capped targeting and news organizations become the sole sanctioned channel for issue-related paid messaging.
Second-order effects
Corporate advertisers keep an open lane that their activist opponents do not — fossil-fuel product marketing can run where counter-advocacy ads are banned, shifting the issue-ads battleground toward earned media and organic reach for campaigns.
Third-order effects
The full arc — 2017 disclosures, 2019 ban, 2023 relaxation — shows platform ad-governance regimes are reversible within a few election cycles, so advertisers and regulators face rules built for volatility rather than permanence.
The trend: Platform political-advertising policy is cycling from transparency toward restriction and back, with each Twitter revision resetting the market for issue ads faster than advertisers can plan around it.
Today, we're sharing the full details of Twitter's new political ads policy. I encourage you to read through it for the full detail, but I wanted to share some of the thinking that went into its creation. This new policy goes into effect on 11/22. https://business.twitter.com/ ..…
Digital advertising is incredibly effective. We must address the risk that brings when it comes to driving political outcomes. With that in mind, three beliefs guided the development of a policy that we think is the right one for Twitter and how our service is used:
Twitter's efforts highlight the challenge social media companies face as their platforms become increasingly influential in political discourse. https://www.cnn.com/...
As promised, more info on our new political ads policy, which goes live November 22nd! Our political content policy: https://business.twitter.com/ ... Our cause-based advertising policy: https://business.twitter.com/ ... @vijaya's thread for some additional insight re: our thinki…
Today, we're sharing our updated political advertising policy. There's more detail, including a FAQ, linked in the policy page, so we encourage you to read the details here: https://business.twitter.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
While I have concerns over how this policy will work I really appreciate Twitter being upfront in admitting that they know this is tough and that its policy will evolve as they learn. https://twitter.com/...
One aspect of Twitter's political ad policy that is likely to be overlooked: In theory it allows “cause-based” ads on issues like climate change, but in practice it curtails them, because it bans 501(c)(4) nonprofits from advertising on Twitter at all. https://onezero.medium.com/…
I disagree with Twitter's new rules on political ads. But wowwww that's a bad incentive if politicians who happen to be incumbents can get around the political ad rule by running ads for themselves from the official government Twitter account & not *labeling* it as a political ad
Despite claims from both @ewarren and @tedcruz that Twitter's new political ad policy would tilt to one side or the other, the newly-announced rules don't appear to discriminate across points of view. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... via @RMac18
Twitter will run some political ads, just not from politicians. Other groups and qualifying news organizations will be allowed to advertise on political issues. https://edition.cnn.com/...
Twitter is rolling out new details on its political ad ban. Politicians, candidates and (c)(4)s are out. But issue ads seem mostly still in, so long as they're not aimed at driving “political, judicial, legislative, or regulatory outcomes.” https://www.cnn.com/... via @donie
NEW: Twitter says it'll allow some ads on political issues — just not from politicians. Seems like a well-intentioned approach but could open a can of worms for the company — their execs acknowledge it's not going to be easy. http://www.cnn.com/...
NEW: Twitter outlines ad policy that will ban the promotion of political content and ads from figures like candidates, parties & govt. officials. “Cause-based” ads will also be restricted in terms of targeting and require a certification process to run. http://cnbc.com/...
We'll no longer allow political ads, including ads focused on influencing votes for candidates, parties, ballot issues, or elections. We also won't allow advertising from candidates, parties, or affiliated groups such as political action committees (PACs).
We've done our best to make this policy straightforward, but inevitably there are some subjective areas. We'll work to ensure transparency around our decisions. Here are the main points:
We'll allow not-for-profits and for-profits to use cause-based ads. We've added restrictions, including no micro-targeting, to ensure they aren't used to circumvent our political ads policy. Political orgs, candidates, and politicians will not be allowed to use cause-based ads.
1. Political message reach should be earned, not bought. 2. Advertising should not be used to drive political, judicial, legislative, or regulatory outcomes; however, cause-based advertising can facilitate public conversation around important topics.
Twitter just clarified its political ad policy. Not allowed: -ads about candidates, ballot initiatives, laws -ads from PACs Allowed: -Cause-based ads (climate change, fracking) w/ some restrictions -Ads from news outlets highlighting political coverage http://buzzfeednews.com/...