Meta to cease political ads in the EU by autumn, blaming bloc’s new rules
LONDON: Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, said on Friday that it will stop all political advertising in the European Union by October, blaming legal uncertainty over new rules designed to increase transparency in election campaigns.
The social media giant said in a blog post that it will no longer allow adverts for political, electoral and social issues on its platforms, which also include Threads, from early October.
The company said it was making the decision because of the EU’s “unworkable” Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulations.
The rules introduce “significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties,” Meta said.
It is not the first big tech company to make such a move. Google said last year that it would stop serving political adverts to EU users before the rules take effect, in an announcement that cited similar reasons.
Under the regulations, which are set to take effect on October 10, platforms will have to label political adverts, disclosing who paid for them and which campaign, referendum or legislative process they are connected to. Ads will have to be preserved in a database, and they can only be targeted at users under strict conditions.
The rules introduce “significant, additional obligations to our processes and systems that create an untenable level of complexity and legal uncertainty for advertisers and platforms operating in the EU,” Meta said.
Violations can be fined up to 6% of a company’s annual global revenue.
The rules are part of Brussels’ wider efforts to counter foreign influence and manipulation in elections, and dovetail with the bloc’s other regulations designed to protect citizens’ privacy and hold platforms more accountable for internet users’ online safety. But those moves clash with the Trump administration, which has lashed out at the EU’s digital rulemaking.
Meta said its decision will not affect users who want to debate politics on its platforms or prevent politicians, candidates and office-holders from ‘sharing political content organically’.
“They just will not be able to amplify this through paid advertising,” it said.
By RSS/AP
