Twitter said Tuesday it would expand the types of political ads allowed on the social media platform, an apparent reversal of its 2019 global ban on political ads as the Elon Musk-owned company seeks to to increase sales.
The company tweeted that it would also relax its advertising policy for “event-related advertising” in the United States and bring its advertising policy “in line with that of TV and other media.”
We believe cause-based advertising can facilitate public conversations about important issues. Today we’re relaxing our advertising policy for ad hoc advertising in the US. We also plan to expand permitted political advertising in the coming weeks.
– Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 3, 2023
Twitter banned political advertising in 2019 after that and other social media companies like Facebook was widely criticized for allowing false election information to be disseminated through its services. It also restricted ads related to social purposes.
“We believe that political messaging reach should be earned, not bought,” he tweeted Jack Dorseythe then-CEO of Twitter, announcing the move.
Since musk At the end of October, Twitter took over, and corporate recruiters fled in response Tesla The CEO laid off thousands of employees, lifted the permanent suspension of former US President Donald Trump, and rushed a paid verification feature that led scammers to pose as public companies on Twitter.
Last month, Musk defended his sweeping cost-cutting measures, saying Twitter faces $3 billion (around Rs. 24,900 billion) in “negative cash flow” over the next year.
Twitter recently restored a feature that promotes suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources for users looking for specific content after being pressured by some users and consumer protection groups to have it removed.
Reuters reported in December that the feature was being removed, citing two people familiar with the matter as saying the removal was ordered by the social media platform’s new owner, Elon Musk.
After the story went public, Ella Irwin, head of trust and safety at Twitter, confirmed the removal, calling it temporary.
About 15 hours after the initial report, Musk, who initially didn’t respond to requests for comment, tweeted “Wrong, it’s still there.” In response to criticism from Twitter users, he also tweeted, “Twitter doesn’t prevent suicide.”
Known as #ThereIsHelp, the feature places a banner at the top of search results for specific topics. It has listed contacts for aid organizations in many countries related to mental health, HIV, vaccines, child sexual exploitation, COVID-19, gender-based violence, natural disasters and freedom of expression.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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