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| Twitter lifts the ban on political ads to compensate for financial losses |
Twitter announced Tuesday that it will expand the types of political ads it allows on its social media platform in the coming weeks.
The move is an apparent reversal of the global ban on political ads in 2019, at a time when the company's new owner, billionaire Elon Musk, is trying to ramp up sales to offset the $44 billion purchase price.
In a tweet, the company said it would also relax its advertising policy on so-called "sponsored ads," which are ads that focus on specific issues such as climate change or social justice.
According to Twitter, advertising is limited to "targeting geographic locations, keywords, and interests" and is not allowed "with the primary intent of a political, legal, legislative, or regulatory outcome."
But that wasn't the case before, as advertisers whose promotions target their ads to the United States were edited out, according to text added on Tuesday.
Twitter justified the change by saying "Promotional ads can encourage public conversation about important issues". It is unclear if the rules will be relaxed outside the US in the future.
More broadly, Twitter said it would "align its advertising policies" with those of television and other media. He also said that with any new changes, he will ensure content is reviewed and approved in a way that protects Twitter users.
Twitter banned political ads in 2019 after it was widely criticized, along with other social networks such as Facebook, for allowing disinformation about elections to be spread through its service. It also restricts ads related to social purposes.
"We believe political awareness should be earned, not bought," Jack Dorsey, Twitter's CEO at the time, said in a tweet. That's why I'm announcing ad bans.
Since Musk completed his takeover of Twitter in late October, major advertisers have fled the platform in response to Musk firing thousands and unblocking controversial accounts like former US President Donald Trump, and rushed to sign up to get started. to Al-Shehri (Twitter Blue), causing chaos by impersonating a well-known company on Twitter.
Last month, Musk defended his drastic cost-cutting changes, saying Twitter would face $3 billion in "negative cash flow" in 2023.