City
Epaper

Twitter officially bans all political ads on its platform

By IANS | Updated: November 16, 2019 10:35 IST

Putting pressure on Facebook to follow suit, Twitter has officially banned all kinds of political ads from its platform, weeks after CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the micro-blogging site would no longer allow those ads.

Open in App

No political content will be promoted from candidates, parties, governments or officials, public accounts committees (PACs) and certain political non-profit groups.

"Twitter globally prohibits the promotion of political content. We have made this decision based on our belief that political message reach should be earned, not bought," the micro-blogging platform said on Friday.

It defines political content as content that references a candidate, political party, elected or appointed government official, election, referendum, ballot measure, legislation, regulation, directive or judicial outcome.

"Ads that contain references to political content, including appeals for votes, solicitations of financial support, and advocacy for or against any of the above-listed types of political content, are prohibited under this policy," said Twitter.

On October 31, Dorsey tweeted: "While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics."

News of the ban divided America's political camps for the 2020 election. Brad Parscale, manager of President Donald Trump's re-election campaign, said the ban was "yet another attempt by the left to silence Trump and conservatives".

Twitter said it also does not allow ads of any type by candidates, political parties, or elected or appointed government officials.

"News publishers who meet our exemption criteria may run ads that reference political content and/or prohibited advertisers under our political content policy, but may not include advocacy for or against those topics or advertisers," it elaborated.

Dorsey had explained his position in a thread of tweets.

"We've made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought. Why? A few reasons..." he tweeted.

Internet political ads, he said, presented "entirely new challenges to civic discourse". These challenges included "machine learning-based optimization of messaging", "micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes".

Experts said the onus is now on Facebook which has become a platform for spreading misleading and fake political ads.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: Donald TrumpDorseyBrad ParscaleIansamerica
Open in App

Related Stories

MaharashtraMaharashtra Hit by US 25% Tariff Hike: Rs 2,700 Crore Export Blow to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

InternationalIndia to Face 25% Tariff and Penalty Starting August 1: Trump Makes Big Announcement on His 'Good Friend

National"Never Said Trump Was Lying, Didn't Mention China Even Once": Rahul Gandhi on PM Modi's Operation Sindoor Speech (Watch Video)

National"No Global Leader Asked India to Stop": PM Modi Responds to Opposition Over Donald Trump's Ceasefire Claim (Watch Video)

MumbaiMumbai Customs Arrested 4 Accused After Drugs Worth Rs 7 Crore Seized at CSMIA

टेकमेनिया Realted Stories

TechnologyStates asked to undertake regular screening to tackle rising fatty liver disease: Nadda

TechnologyAgra-born man to fly on Blue Origin’s next flight to edge of space

TechnologyWhat is ISRO’s 10-day HOPE analogue mission in Ladakh

TechnologyNFDC launches free residential VFX, animation training for Northeast youth

TechnologyKharif sowing up 4 pc, agriculture gross value added may rise 4.5 pc: Report