December 3rd, 2019
Twitter Is Implementing a Political Ad Ban This Month

Twitter is banning all political advertising this month!

         Twitter has released some new details on how it plans to enforce a ban on any political advertising. “Political reach should be earned and not bought,” says Twitter’s legal, policy, and trust and safety lead, Vijaya Gadde. This represents one of the most drastic actions a major platform has taken in the political realm. This could have some impact on brand advertisers like companies who promote causes like climate change, but as long as they don’t have a specific political stance, they should be allowed. Twitter is the first among its U.S. social media peers to limit political advertising which puts pressure on Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. They both have had problems in the past with attack ads that have been posted throughout their platforms that spread lies across their large audience. There are a ton of Gray areas with publishers like the Washington Post and The New York Times that will sponsor news articles relating to politics. Gadde acknowledged that there will be a period of trial and error where they will come up with the best formula for identifying what falls under their new guidelines. Dealing with all the issues that come with politics on social media platforms is not worth it in the end, so outright banning any political advertising is the best move for Twitter.
 
         To read more about Twitter’s ban on political ads click here.